


spooky scary sanders sides

by teacupfulofbrains



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Fall prompts, Halloween Prompts, M/M, Multi, because i am BUSY but also WEAK, content warnings on individual chapters but nothing super bad, it is halloween my dudes, lots of fluffy shenanigans, october prompt fill challenge from @sanderssidesspook on tumblr!!!, plus some platonic lamp, ridiculous boys in love doing ridiculous fall shenanigans, romantic lamp, there will be some playful spook but nothing scary or gory or anything
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-01
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-07-23 04:50:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 19,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16151945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teacupfulofbrains/pseuds/teacupfulofbrains
Summary: spooky scary sanders sidessend shivers down your spine . . .(OR: a 31-day halloween/fall themed sanders sides prompt challenge for the month of october, taken from @sanderssidesspook)





	1. day one: costume party

**Author's Note:**

> HELLO MY LOVES!!! i am doing a prompt fill challenge for the month of october! my prompt list came from the wonderful tumblr account [@sanderssidesspook ](https://sanderssidesspook.tumblr.com)!!!! 
> 
> all of these will be short, and likely under a thousand words, and all of them will be romantic lamp! (there may be a few that are platonic bc of the nature of the prompt, but most of them are romantic bc i love romantic lamp with A L L my heart and soul)
> 
> DAY ONE: COSTUME PARTY: the sides are getting ready for a costume party. virgil's costume raises some eyebrows.
> 
> tw: mild mention of spiders and anxiety

“Roman, it tickles!” Patton giggles. Roman leans in and boops their noses together, careful not to smear his own elaborate makeup, before pulling a makeup wipe out of thin air and scrubbing the streak of black face paint off Patton’s cheek.

“I know it does, dearheart, but you have to stop moving so much!” Roman chides, gently. “How am I supposed to perfect your costume if I cannot put the finishing touches on your lovely, lovely face, hmm?”

Patton giggles a little more, and then takes a deep breath, sitting perfectly still again. He’s wearing his cat hoodie as an actual hoodie, rather than tied around his shoulders, accompanied with soft grey sweatpants, socks with cat pawprints on the bottom, and a fluffy tail attached to the back of his pants. Roman has been attempting for the last fifteen minutes to draw a kitty-cat face on him, but he’s so ticklish and sensitive on his face that it’s a bit of an ordeal.

Roman twists the little crayon of black face paint up out of the tube and gently cups Patton’s face, squeezing his cheek just a little. Patton giggles again, and Roman just grins. “Here we go, my love. Hold as still as you possibly can, okay?” 

Patton nods, puffing his adorably squishy cheek out as he pouts adorably to maintain his focus. Roman can’t resist leaning in and kissing Patton, right on the tip of his adorably round little nose, and begins to draw the kitty cat face onto him again. 

He gets the kitty nose drawn, and all the whiskers on one side of his face. Logan comes in just as he finishes, wearing a weird brown coat and goggles and carrying some kind of stuffed bird. “Logan!” Patton cheers. Logan smiles softly. 

“Hello, Patton.”  
  
“Aren’t you going to put on a Halloween costume?” 

Logan blinks, face the special kind of schooled neutral that he usually reserves for Patton’s puns. “I _am_ wearing a costume, Patton. I am Nikola Tesla.”

“Who?”

“Whom,” Logan corrects. “He is a scientist, Patton.”

“Oh! You look so _cute_ , Lolo!” Logan blushes and fiddles with his stuffed pigeon.

“You as well, Patton.”

“And me?” Roman says, leaning away from Patton to pose flamboyantly. Logan blinks at him in confusion. “What do you think of my costume?”

“You . . . make a very pretty . . . ancient Chinese noblewoman?” 

Roman gasps as though Logan has just said that Disney is cancelled forever. “ _Logan Elizabeth Sanders_ –”

“That is not my middle name.”

“ – I am _ashamed_ that you do not recognize my Mulan outfit!” 

Logan rolls his eyes at Roman’s theatrics and looks around the room, puzzled. “Have either of you seen Virgil?”  
  
“You rang?”

Logan _jumps_ as Virgil appears behind him, dressed simply in a black onesie with the hood down and his hands behind his back. “ _E equals MC scared!_ ” he shrieks, leaping forward. Virgil laughs, stepping forward to gently kiss him in apology.

“What _are_ you dressed as?” Roman asks, beginning to draw the next series of whiskers on Patton’s face. “Peter Pan’s shadow?”

“Not quite,” Virgil smirks. He pulls his hood down over his head and holds his arms straight out to his sides, revealing the three plush arms suspended from each of his real ones with strings and the six extra red eyes sparkling on his hood. “I’m a –”

“ ** _CREEPY CRAWLY DEATH DEALER!_** ” Patton shrieks, scrambling away from Roman so hastily that he ends up with yet another smeared streak of black greasepaint on his face as he hides behind Roman, shaking. 

“Virgil, why would you do that?” Logan asks. “You know how Patton feels about arachnids!”

“I’m trying to help him get over his fear!” Virgil insists. “He’s terrified of spiders, but he’s not terrified of me, and all me being dressed as a spider means is that I have four times the number of arms to hug him with!”

Patton peeks out from behind Roman’s shoulder. “R-really?” 

Virgil pushes his hood down, revealing his adorably tousled bedhead and his slightly flushed cheeks. “Yeah, Pat. I’m not scary, see? It’s just me. Can I have a hug?”

Patton slowly shuffles forward, eyes still wide and fearful. Virgil holds his arms out for a hug and Patton yelps, seeing all the false arms move along with it. “They’re not real, Pat,” Virgil says gently. “They’re the sleeves of old shirts that I cut off and stuffed with cotton.  And the hands? They’re old gloves that I stuffed with cotton. Then I sewed everything together with black thread. I’m not so scary, a-am I?”

His voice quavers, just a little, like he’s worried that they’re still scared of him. (Roman has a flashback to the days before they accepted him into their relationship, when _Virgil_ was still _Anxiety_ , when he would have said _yes_ , he was the most terrifying thing in Thomas’s mind.)

 

Once Patton hears the fear in Virgil’s voice, he overcomes his unease at the costume and pulls Virgil into a tight hug, rapidly scattering kisses into the soft fluff of his hair. “Oh, honey, no! Of _course_ you’re not scary! You keep us safe from all the scary things – _including_ spiders!”

Virgil’s arms fall securely around Patton’s waist in relief, the fake arms of his costume wrapping around Patton as well, and Roman sighs happily. He slides an arm around Logan’s waist and rests his head on his shoulder, feeling Logan press a gentle kiss to the crown of his head. Patton’s makeup can wait.


	2. day two: trick-or-treat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> logan and his boyfriends prepare to celebrate halloween in the halls. 
> 
> (tw: none!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fun story i accidentally invented a college au for this prompt (and yes, patton and virgil have HEAVY ACCENTS : 3)  
> halloween in the halls is a thing my college does where students buy candy and then pass it out to children that get led through the dorms on a trick-or-treat type thing 
> 
> logan: chemistry/secondary ed major from the same small pa town the college is located in  
> roman: psychology major from canada  
> patton: occupational therapy major from scotland  
> virgil: speech-language pathology major from georgia

Being the RA for the graduate students’ dorm has its perks. One of those perks is a four-person suite all to yourself – or, in Logan’s case, to share with your three wonderful boyfriends. He can hear them now, even as he fills a plastic bowl with individually wrapped fun-sized KitKats.

“What are we doing, again?” Patton’s thick Scottish accent rings through the suite.

“We’re celebratin’ Halloween, sugar,” Virgil says quietly, and he must be relaxed if he’s using Southern pet names.

“I know what Halloween is!” Patton says excitedly. “But how are we celebrating?”

“Do you not trick or treat in Scotland?” Roman asks. 

“Not really, no!”

 

“Well, this is somethin’ called _Halloween in the Halls_ ,” Virgil says. “Children from the local town are gonna be comin’ through in costume, and we’re gonna be givin’ them some candy.”  
  
“Children?!” Patton squeals. “That’s _adorable_!” 

 Logan continues emptying candy into the pumpkin-patterned bowl until he feels a gentle touch on his shoulder. Turning around, he sees Roman (wearing a lion onesie), Patton (wearing a cat onesie), and Virgil, wearing a black onesie he’s never seen before. 

“Is that new?” 

Virgil shyly lifts his arms to reveal attached black fabric cut in the shape of bat wings. “Pat found it for me,” he says. “Ya like it?”   
  
“It is adorable,” Logan hums, “as are all of you.” He leans in to quickly kiss each of his boyfriends on the nose; Roman grins, Patton squeaks, and Virgil blushes. “Now, if you three can handle standing at the door and passing out candy to the first few children while I change into my own onesie?” 

“Absolutely!”

Logan is quick to change into his unicorn-themed onesie (Patton had _screeched_ when he found out Logan owned a onesie that looked like his national animal and then proceeded to coo Gaelic pet names at him for forty-five minutes) and make his way back to the door, where his boyfriends have taken up residence. “Any children?”   
  


“None yet!” Roman chirps cheerily. Virgil tries to sneakily shove a KitKat into the pocket of his onesie, but Logan just glares at him until he sheepishly drops the treat back into the bowl.

The first visitor they receive is the chair of the psychology department, Thomas Sanders, shepherding his twin eight-year-old sons. Emile is wearing a red shirt with a yellow star on it, while Remy is wearing a Pokémon-themed onesie. “Hello, Roman!” he calls brightly.

“Hey there, Doctor Sanders!” Roman says. “Hey Emile, hey Remy!” The twins are familiar faces to him, as they frequently end up sitting in the back of their dad’s lectures. “And what are my favorite little princes dressed up as this year?” 

“I’m Steven!” Emile says proudly. “From _Steven Universe_! Look, look, look what Daddy drew for me!” He pulls his shirt up to reveal a fairly decent replica of Steven’s gem drawn on his stomach with pink-and-black body paint.

“Very nice!” Patton says. “And what about your brother?”

“I’m a Snorlax,” Remy mumbles. “Because they sleep all the time, and that’s what I wanna do. You talk funny.” 

“Remy!” Thomas chides. Patton laughs and crouches down to Remy’s eye level.

 

“I do talk kinda funny, don’t I? It’s because I’m not from here! I’m from a place called Scotland, it’s all the way across the ocean!” 

Remy blinks at him. “Cool.”   
  
“Now, boys, what do you say?” Thomas prompts gently. Emile and Remy stand next to each other, hold out their plastic pumpkin-shaped candy buckets (pink for Emile, green for Remy), and chorus, “ _Trick-or-treat_!” 

Virgil reaches into the candy bowl, pulls out a handful of KitKats, and drops two into each pumpkin. He takes a fifth one for himself, unwrapping it and hastily shoving it into his mouth before Logan can stop him. Logan rolls his eyes, but leans in to kiss his forehead anyway.

 

 


	3. day three: carving pumpkins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> thomas and his sides decorate pumpkins for halloween.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: vv brief mention of blood, knives (for carving pumpkins)

Thomas heaves the last of the five carving pumpkins onto his kitchen table, making sure that everything they’ll need is laid out neatly on the counter. He twists his wrist and flicks his hand in an easy, practiced summoning gesture and calls, “Roman! Logan! Patton! Virgil!” 

Roman, Logan, and Patton appear standing around the kitchen table. Virgil appears on top of the refrigerator. “Virgil, just – why?” Thomas asks helplessly. Virgil grins, teeth flashing in the darkness of the space on top of the fridge. 

“Why not? It’s October, Thomas. It’s peak spook season. This is peak spook.”   
  
“Well, can you come and do ‘peak spook’ down here with the rest of us?” Thomas says. “I did call you four here for a reason.”

Virgil heaves an overdramatic sigh, but drops onto the floor, bare feet softly padding against the tile as he shuffles over to stand between Patton and Roman. “You did?” 

Thomas gestures to the pumpkins. “I thought we could carve pumpkins together! You know, for Halloween!”

Logan adjusts his glasses. “That seems adequate.” Thomas knows his logical side well enough by now to know that Logan is actually very excited about this prospect.

“Do we each have our own pumpkin?” Roman asks excitedly. “Oooh, I’m so excited! There are so many different things I could do!”

Patton picks up one of the knives that Thomas has laid out for carving pumpkins, and Virgil immediately snatches the knife away from him like it’s on fire and all but _yeet_ s it back onto the countertop. “I’m not . . . really comfortable with knives,” he mutters. “There are so many ways this could go wrong, there are too many opportunities to cut yourself –”

“I can cut yours for you, if you want,” Patton offers. Virgil shakes his head, still looking mildly uncomfortable.

“Yeah, I kind of figured you might not want to use a knife, Virgil,” Thomas says. “That’s why I bought acrylic paints. You can just paint your pumpkin, you don’t actually _have_ to cut into it.”

Virgil blinks at him, even as Patton wraps his arm around his waist and kisses his head. “That’s . . . y-yeah, that sounds great. Thanks, Thomas.”

“Any time.”

Pumpkin carving goes fairly well, even if it takes Roman twenty-seven minutes to pick a design for his pumpkin and Virgil almost has a panic attack when he mistakes the red paint smeared on Patton’s hand for blood and Logan almost shuts down when Thomas accidentally sprays pumpkin guts onto his glasses. Once he’s sure that Patton is okay, Virgil takes his pumpkin, some newspaper, and several jars of paint and disappears into the bathroom to paint his pumpkin in private. When everyone is done, they display their pumpkins proudly. 

Thomas has a decently legible _Happy Halloween!_ into his pumpkin, as well as what he thinks is a fairly passable bat. Logan has gotten some kind of intricate stars-and-honeycomb pattern into his that looks absolutely _magical_ when he sets the little tea-light candle inside of it. Roman has managed a fairly impressive replica of the castle from his logo, and he’s painted the pumpkin red and gold as well.

Patton goes and gets Virgil out of the bathroom, and he makes Patton turn the lights off before he enters the dining room, carrying a softly-glowing white orb. It takes Thomas’s eyes a few seconds to adjust enough to see what it is. The pumpkin is painted entirely white with phosphorescent paint, and when Virgil turns it around he sees a truly impressive replica of Jack Skellington’s face.

“Nice job, Virge!”

Patton turns the lights back on in time for Thomas to catch the pleased flush on Virgil’s face. “Pat, you’re the last one. What’s your pumpkin?”

Patton happily turns his pumpkin around to reveal his design, and Thomas grins when he sees it. Patton has clumsily carved “My Fam-ILY” into the pumpkin, and below it, he’s painstakingly painted replicas of each of their logos, all connected with little strings of pink hearts.

Roman scoops Patton into his arms and showers kisses all over his face. When he finally sets Patton down, Logan and Virgil take their turns kissing Patton. Thomas surveys the hurricane of mess in his kitchen and then looks back at his sides, laughing together.

Yeah. This was worth it.


	4. day four: sunsets in sweaters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> roman and patton plan a romantic date in the imagination, complete with EVEN MORE festive sweaters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: none that i can think of!

Virgil gently blows on the steam rising from his mug. He can always conjure his tea at the perfect temperature for drinking, but Logan had offered to make it (since he was making coffee anyway) and Virgil isn’t good at refusing his boyfriends.

(He’s pretty sure that little gestures like that are how Logan shows his affection, anyways. And it’s less work he has to do.)   
  
Roman and Patton have been locked in the Imagination all day, briefly appearing at breakfast to let the other two know that they had a special surprise for later but otherwise not saying anything. Logan comes out of the kitchen carrying his own mug and sits next to Virgil, tucking his feet beneath him and leaning against Virgil’s shoulder.

“Thanks,” Virgil says quietly. 

“Any time,” Logan responds.

They sit in silence for a while, waiting for Roman and Patton. Their boyfriends don’t understand how the silence of each other’s company can be so comforting, but sometimes they both get overwhelmed and find it nice to sit with someone who expects nothing from you. 

Virgil’s tea is half-gone and Logan is half-asleep against him when Patton bounces in, a bright red leaf stuck in his hair. He’s wearing a burnt-orange sweater with _hello GOURD-geous_ sewn on the front in grey thread, as well as a gourd-shaped patch over his heart. “The surprise is ready!” he cheers. “Are you guys?”

Logan yawns and stretches, arching his back much like a cat would, as he stands. Virgil stands and almost faceplants (thanks to his feet falling asleep) but Patton is quick to steady him until he regains his footing. 

They enter Roman’s room, and Virgil’s jaw drops.

The Imagination has been transformed into a wide, grassy expanse covered in trees whose leaves are at the peak of turning. The ground slopes away to a rocky bluff, and when Virgil looks out, he can see a mountain range in the distance, slopes absolutely covered in a beautiful gradient of fall colors. Roman is standing near the edge (but not so near that Virgil worries he might fall off), wearing a deep crimson sweater with a shimmery golden maple leaf on the front and intricate yellow embroidery on the sleeves.

“This is – I – _wow_ ,” Logan whispers. Virgil expects him to elaborate, but he’s staring at the scene before them. Roman grins when he realizes he’s accomplished that rarest of feats – rendering Logan truly and utterly speechless.

“We have more gifts!” Roman announces. “We’ve been perfecting them all day!”

He snaps his fingers, and Virgil feels his hoodie melt away to be replaced by something equally soft and warm. He looks down to see a midnight purple, almost-black sweater, with _Everyone Hail to the Pumpkin King_ embroidered in white on the front and a small orange jack-o-lantern face sewn over his left breast.

When he looks at Logan, he sees a dark blue sweater with constellations embroidered on the front. “This is –” 

“It’s the actual night sky during fall!” Roman says. “Or – or it’s some of the most commonly recognized fall constellations, anyway, I . . . I did my best, I looked at the NASA page for like, two hours, I – do you like –” 

Before Roman can even get the words out properly, Logan is throwing himself at him, pressing their mouths together in an attempt to hide the tears in his eyes. Roman catches Logan, one arm snug around his waist, the other one reaching up as he cups his face. “Are you okay?” 

“The sweater is wonderful,” Logan breathes, “and so are you.” He kisses Roman again, and again, and again and again and again, and Virgil is tempted to pull Patton in for a kiss of his own, but then Roman is pulling off of Logan’s mouth. 

“Time for part two!”

He snaps his fingers, and the midday scene shifts. Suddenly, it’s sunset, the golden-orange pumpkin sun glowing as it nestles perfectly picturesque between two mountains. Roman gently tugs Logan down to sit with him, and if Logan slides into Roman’s lap and tucks his head against Roman’s neck, well, no one’s telling.

Patton sits next to roman, wrapping one arm around his shoulders and bracing himself off the ground with the other. Virgil carefully slides into Patton’s lap, taking Logan’s free hand in his own as they snuggle together and watch the sun set.

It’s pretty damn perfect.


	5. day five: jumping in leaves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> logan attempts to do yardwork, but his boyfriends are children

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: none that i can think of!

It’s the perfect temperature for working outdoors – just warm enough to only require a light jacket, just chilly enough not to overheat. Logan flexes his fingers around the rake and carefully drags some more leaves into the massive pile he’s compiled in the middle of their front yard. Once he gets all the leaves piled up, he decides, he can go inside and take a break. Maybe one of his boyfriends will be willing to snuggle him for a little bit.

He’s created a sizeable pile, up past his waist, working all morning. The leaves are red and orange and yellow and brown, and he takes a moment to admire a particularly perfect specimen. It’s a maple leaf, bright red that fades to bright orange at the points. It reminds him of Roman, a little bit.

Logan carefully pockets the leaf, resolving to show it to Roman when he goes inside. He drags another rakeful of leaves into the pile, examining his work, and then he hears someone squealing, “ _Cannonball!_ ”

He turns to see Patton, sprinting headlong at his pile of leaves. Logan drops the rake, holding his hands up. “Patton, wait, _no_ –”

But it’s too late. With a massive whooping noise, Patton _launches_ himself into the pile, sending leaves flying everywhere. He’s completely buried in fallen leaves as Logan’s careful morning of work is scattered across the yard. Patton’s head pops up, cheeks flushed red from the cold and from excitement, leaves caught in his thick brown curls. “Thanks, Lolo, this was a _great_ jumping pile!”

“That was not the purpose of the pile,” Logan sighs. He picks up the rake and goes to start rebuilding the pile, mentally calculating how long it will take to re-rake it all. Before he can even start, however, another joyful shriek splits the air. Roman leaps off the porch and sprints towards the leaf pile, and Patton barely manages to roll out of the way before Roman belly-flops into the pile.

“You’re doin’ a great job, teach!” Roman laughs, crushed leaf litter stuck to his sweater. “This was the perfect pile for leaping in!”

Logan looks at the yard, which is somehow even messier than it was before he started raking it. He’s been doing this for about three hours, and he’s pretty tired, but he refuses to let the yard look like a mess. Roman and Patton are still in the leaf pile, laughing brightly and throwing handfuls of leaves at each other, even as Roman tackles Patton into the leaf pile.

“Logan?” He’s not sure when Virgil came into the yard, but he welcomes the arm that Virgil wraps around his waist and the kiss that Virgil offers him. “I see that they’re having fun, huh?”

“Yes, in my hours of hard work. I suppose I’ll just have to rake it up again when they’re done.”

Virgil smiles slyly. “Or we could join them.”

“Virgil, what are you –”

Before Logan has time to react, Virgil shoves him in the chest. He falls backwards into the pile of leaves, and Virgil dives on top of him, laughing. “Virgil!” Logan complains, but he’s laughing, too.

“You need to loosen up a little, Logan!” Roman calls, leaning over to kiss his cheek. Patton kisses his forehead as Virgil leans down and kisses his mouth. “Take a break with us!" 

“Does taking a break _have_ to involve breaking the morning’s worth of work I’ve done?” Logan asks, even as he pulls Roman and Patton closer and leans up, chasing Virgil’s mouth. 

“Well, we never said we were gonna make you clean all the leaves up yourself!” Patton says. “That’d just be mean! We’ll help you rake them up again!” 

“Yeah, so take a break and jump in leaves with us,” Virgil smirks. “You know you wanna.” 

Logan looks at his three lovely boyfriends, all leaning in to shower him with love and affection. “I suppose I can see the merits,” he concedes, leaning up to kiss his lovely boyfriends again.   


	6. day six: decorating for fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> patton attempts to make a leaf garland, with the help of his boyfriends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: none that i can think of!

Patton reaches into the wicker sewing basket and pulls out his pincushion, a plump little tomato with a smiley face stitched on it. “What color thread should I use for the leaf garland?” he asks.

“Well, what color are the leaves?” Virgil counters. He’s carrying a truly staggering armful of miniature gourds and pumpkins, which he spills onto the couch. Roman follows him, lugging two plastic shopping bags stuffed to the brim.

“There’s all kinds of colors!” Patton says, examining the pile of fake leaves in front of him. “There’s red leaves, orange leaves, yellow leaves, and leaves that are a mix of colors! I don’t wanna use plain black thread to make the garland, that’s boring!” 

“Well, do you have any brown thread?”

Patton rummages around in his sewing kit and produces two different colors of brown thread. “Which one do you think fits the leaves better?”

Roman may be the creative one, but Virgil has a much more discerning eye. He picks up both spools, squinting at them and tilting them to watch the way the light hits them. One is a light, golden brown, like butterscotch or caramel, close to the golden-brown color of Patton’s or Roman’s eyes. The other is darker, richer, like freshly-brewed espresso, like dark chocolate, like Virgil’s or Logan’s eyes. 

“I think this one,” Virgil says, handing the darker brown thread to Patton. “It’ll contrast the brighter colors of the leaves, yeah?”

“I wouldn’t even think of that!” Patton says. “Thanks, Virgil, you’re the best!”

He happily pulls Virgil down for a brief thank-you kiss before he and Roman start arranging the miniature gourds and pumpkins in the decorative baskets. Patton begins threading the needle – or trying to. He sits there for almost three minutes trying to poke the slender brown embroidery thread through the tiny little needle eye, and after what feels like the fifty-seventh try, he feels a gentle hand on his shoulder. 

“May I offer some assistance, dear?”

Patton tips his head back to see Logan leaning down over him. “Logan!” he chirps. “I’m just a little stuck on these leaves, can you help me?”

Logan sits down on the couch next to Patton, setting his knitting bag down and taking the needle and thread from Patton. In less than two tries, he manages to thread the needle, pulling a nice long tail through to keep it from slipping. “There you are, love." 

Patton kisses him, too, and Logan’s cheeks are pink as he pulls his knitting needles out and goes back to work on his scarf. 

Later, when the garland is fully strung, Logan and Roman will string it around the living room while Patton and Virgil turn on the little battery-powered tea-light candles in the baskets. Later, they’ll all snuggle together underneath their massive knit blanket, the very first thing that Logan ever knit, and they’ll fall asleep together. But for now, they are creating together, and Patton looks up to see Roman stealing kisses from Virgil and winking at a flustered Logan, and he’s in love with all three of them all over again.


	7. day seven: fall baking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> roman ruins gingersnap baking by being an idiot with an outdated meme.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: mentions of the cinnamon challenge, mild anxiety

“Hey. Hey Virgil. Virgil, Virgil, Virgil.”

“What, Roman, you – _oh my god are you doing what I think you’re doing you **better not be** –_”

“It’s fine, Jack Skellington, I’ll be okay! We’re not even real!”

“Virgil, why are you screaming? What is causing you distress?”

“ _Roman is gonna do the fucking cinnamon challenge and I’m going to strangle him!_ ”  
  
“Roman, that is highly ill-advised. Consuming that much cinnamon is detrimental to your health in both the long and short term, and even if it wasn’t, that challenge was years ago. You will gain nothing except making Virgil much more worried than he needs to be.”

“Relax, Pocket Protector, I’m going to be fine! Besides, we are making gingersnaps, and _someone_ bought far too much cinnamon! This is a productive use of the extra ingredients!”  
  
“ _OR WE COULD JUST MAKE MORE COOKIES, YOU FUCKING MORON!_ ”  
  
“Roman, you are causing Virgil significant levels of distress. Please give me the – _Roman Elizabeth Sanders give me the spoon right now_!”

“Haha, Logan, you can’t – _ack!_ ”

“Did . . . did Patton just . . . _tackle_ Roman to the ground?”

“We’re never getting these gingersnaps baked, are we." 

“Let us go to the grocery store and buy some while they are distracted, Virgil, yes?” 

“Anything to get me away from whatever nonsense is happening here. Let’s go.”


	8. day eight: fall festival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the boys go to a fall festival. logan turns out to be surprisingly good at bobbing for apples.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: the briefest mention of drowning

Logan wraps an arm around Virgil’s waist and laces the fingers of his other hand through Patton’s. Roman has already disappeared into the crowd, and he’s not losing another over excitable boyfriend to the throngs of people. Virgil presses closer to him, muttering about the chill, and Logan lets him pretend that he’s shaking from the cold and not from nerves at being in such a large crowd.

“It’s so pretty here!” Patton squeaks excitedly. “Look at all the leaves changing colors, Lolo! And there’s so much fun stuff to do! We could go on rides, or – or we could go eat food, or we could look at some of the little shop stalls or or or or –”

“Calm down, dearest one,” Logan murmurs. “There will be plenty of time to do everything. I think our first priority should be locating –”

“Roman!” Patton cheers, yanking his hand out of Logan’s to run towards their boyfriend and jump into his arms. Roman catches him easily and twirls them around, making Patton’s leaf-patterned skirt flare out around him. 

“My loves, I have found the _best_ stall at this entire fair!” Roman says, pressing little kisses all over Patton’s face before gently setting him down. “There is an _apple-bobbing_ stall over there! We should all go do that!”   
  
“What if someone drowns?” Virgil asks worriedly.   
  
“It is highly unlikely that you will inhale any sort of water, Virgil, and even if you do, you will likely cough it all out before any enters your lungs. On the infinitesimal chance that you inhale enough water to be problematic, Patton and I are both trained in CPR. We will all be fine.”

Virgil leans up and presses a kiss to Logan’s cheek, and Logan feels his cold little nose brush against his face. “Thanks, Lo,” he says quietly. “I do feel better about that now.”

Logan adjusts his sweater and scarf as Virgil leans into his shoulder. “I am glad, Virgil. We are here to have fun, after all, and I want you to enjoy tonight.”

Roman and Patton reach the apple-bobbing stand first, and by the time Logan and Virgil get there, the front of Roman’s sweatshirt is already soaked through. The premise of the booth seems simple enough – you have sixty seconds to pull as many apples as you can out of the bin of water with your mouth. You get to keep whatever apples you manage to bob successfully, and if you bob a certain number in the time, you get a prize. 

Logan studies the array of prizes. Most of them are Halloween-themed and slightly childish, but one of the prizes for bobbing ten or more apples in sixty seconds is a stuffed bat slightly larger than his torso. Logan rolls his eyes, watching Roman lean in to take his turn, and looks at Virgil.

“Virgil, would you like to – Virgil?”

Virgil is staring at the large bat plush with wide, starry eyes. “It looks so soft,” he whispers. Virgil is the shortest of all of them, by far, and if the bat is large to Logan he can only imagine how big it must look to Virgil. He clearly wants the bat.

Logan watches Roman bob for apples. He pulls out three, which earns him a keychain, and seems pleased with that. Patton tries next, and he pulls out five, which earns him a small pumpkin plush. Logan looks at Virgil, who’s switching between looking apprehensively at the bucket full of water and looking longingly at the bat, and he knows what he has to do. He hadn’t wanted to bob for apples, since he’s concerned about the sanitary aspect of the water, but the apples are fresh, and he can do this for Virgil. 

“Virgil, stand with Patton and Roman, and hold these.” He hands Virgil his dark blue scarf and his glasses.

“What are you doing, Lo?”

“I have apples to bob.” 

Logan clasps his hands behind his back and narrows his eyes at the apples. The girl running the stand gives him a “three-two-one-go!” countdown, and he is _off_. 

Some of the apples still have their stems on, so it’s easy to grip them between his teeth and drop them into the little metal scoring bucket. He uses his nose to quickly nudge the apples onto their sides and then sink his teeth into them, pushing them off and into the bucket with his tongue. He is quick and precise and methodical, and the only thing he can think of is that he _has to win that bat plush_.

He hears the girl say, “And _time_!” far too soon for his liking. He stands up, wiping the water off his mouth and face with his sleeve as the attendant counts the apples he’s bobbed.

“Fifteen!” she says. “That’s a record! You get to keep the apples you bobbed, and you’ve also earned a large prize! Which one would you like, sir?” 

Logan looks at the prize wall and points at the bat plush. “That one, please.”

Virgil gasps when Logan offers him the bat plush, the plastic bag of apples suspended from one arm. “I . . . noticed you staring,” he mumbles. “So I bobbed fifteen apples and I won you a bat plush. Do – do you like –” 

He doesn’t have his glasses on, but he doesn’t need them to know that the weight crashing into him is a gleeful, grateful Virgil.


	9. day nine: candy shopping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> logan tries to corral his boyfriends as they shop for halloween candy, with limited success.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: brief mention of stomachache

“It is possible that I have made a mistake.”

Logan pushes his glasses further up on his nose and flexes his fingers around the handle of the shopping cart. Roman and Patton are practically _vibrating_ with excitement next to him, and even though Virgil is making fun of them, there’s an undeniable light in his eyes. 

Their neighborhood trick-or-treat night is before the actual night of October thirty-first, and they need candy. Naturally, Logan had simply gone to the nearest Wal-Mart to purchase candy in bulk. His boyfriends had begged to come along, and they had all made puppy-dog eyes at him, and Logan is weak, so he had agreed. 

He regrets that decision now.

There is a reason he grocery shops alone; none of his boyfriends are particularly good at sticking to a list and not getting extraneous nonsense. Virgil is the best at it, but even his best isn’t as good as Logan. (Patton and Roman are permanently banned from grocery shopping after the time they came home with nothing but frozen cookie dough and Kraft mac-and-cheese.)

“We have a _list_ ,” he reminds them sternly, “and we are _sticking to it_. We are getting candy for trick or treaters. We are _not_ getting candy for ourselves. You three eat far too much sugar as it is.”

“Says the man who goes through a jar of Crofter’s every week,” Roman teases. Logan only blushes a little.

“No extraneous nonsense,” Logan repeats. “I have a list.”

He turns the cart down the candy aisle, and Patton sucks in a sharp, squeaky breath, and Logan has regrets™.

“Look at all these options!” Patton says. “I wonder what we should get first!” 

“We should get what’s on the list,” Logan says. “All we need are a few large bags of individually wrapped fun-sized candy bars to distribute to children. We don’t need any superfluous –” 

“What about this?” Roman says, picking up a large chocolate witch’s hat.

“No, Roman, we cannot get that.” 

Virgil eyes the witch hat with interest, but Logan glares at Roman until he sighs dramatically and puts it back on the shelf. “Thank you. Now – Patton, I can see you putting that in the cart, it’s not what we’re here for, _put it back_.”

Patton pouts, but pulls the giant bag of M&M’s out of the cart and puts it back on the shelf. Logan selects several variety bags of fun-sized candy bars, and he figures he’s probably got enough but one more bag, just to be safe. He pulls a bag of KitKats into his hands, and when he turns back to the cart, Virgil is happily dumping full-sized dark chocolate bars into the front portion where small children are supposed to sit.   
  
“Virgil, _no_.”

“Virgil, yes,” Virgil deadpans. 

“I’m not paying for it.” 

“Bold of you to assume I didn’t prepare for that.”

“If Panic at the Everywhere’s buying his own candy, I’m buying my own too!” Roman protests. 

“Me too!” Patton cheers. 

Logan sighs. He tried his best. He’s not at fault for what happens next. 

(All three of them end up with massive sugar stomachaches later, and Logan just gives them heating pads and lets them snuggle up to him and complain about their sore tummies. He’s not above saying _I told you so_ , but he at least has the decency to wait until they’re not in pain.)


	10. day ten: corn maze

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman manages to get lost in a corn maze designed for children, and Logan is done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: swearing, minor mention of anxiety

**_GROUP NAME: fantastic 4 <3 _ **

 

**pattoncake:** made it to the center!!! first one here!!!

**p!ateverywhere:** lol how did you beat lo there

**pocket protector:** I, too, have reached the center of the maze.

**pattoncake:** dunno! I wasn’t really paying attention, i was distracted by all the cool corn and pumpkin animals!!!

**p!ateverywhere:** lmaoooooooooooooooooo bet you’re steamin’ lo

**pocket protector:** Patton is intelligent. I’m not surprised he found the center of the maze.

**p!ateverywhere:** yeah ik that you just like being first

**pocket protector:** In this case, second place is more than enough for me.

**p!ateverywhere:** found the center, where are you guys

**pattoncake:** vee, i can see you! come on over!

**pocket protector:** Roman, are you any closer to reaching the center of the maze?

**pocket protector:** Roman, we started the maze twenty-five minutes ago. The rest of us have been in the center for approximately fourteen minutes. Are you anywhere close to the center?

**p!ateverywhere:** ro, you need to fuckin’ answer us

**p!ateverywhere:** roman where the FUCK are you

**p!ateverywhere:** ROMAN FUCKING ANSWER ME

**pattoncake:** roman, sweetheart, virge is getting kinda worried . . . and so am i . . . are you okay?

**PRINCE ROMAN <3: **FINALLY, SOME BLASTED CELL SERVICE

**p!ateverywhere:** ROMAN YOU FUCKING BASTARD

**p!ateverywhere:** WHERE THE SHIT ARE YOU

**p!ateverywhere:** DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WORRIED I WAS

**PRINCE ROMAN <3: **I . . . may have gotten . . . a TEENSY bit lost

**pocket protector:** Allow me to see if I got this correct.

**pocket protector:** You are LOST. In the CORN MAZE.

**PRINCE ROMAN <3: **It is . . . possible, yes.

**pocket protector:** Roman, this corn maze is designed for children.

**PRINCE ROMAN <3: **Your point, calculator watch?

**pocket protector:** Roman, you are TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS OLD.

**PRINCE ROMAN <3: **STOP Y E L L I N G AT ME!

**p!ateverywhere:** this is getting ridiculous. princey, where are you?

**PRINCE ROMAN <3: **Well if I had to take a guess, I’m in a corn maze.

**p!ateverywhere:** ha fuckin’ ha, roman

**p!ateverywhere:** what do you see around you?

**PRINCE ROMAN <3: **corn.

**p!ateverywhere:** ROMAN I STG

**PRINCE ROMAN <3: **Fine! Fine. I see . . . what I BELIEVE is supposed to be a lion made out of a pumpkin? With a corn stalk mane?

**pattoncake:** YOU’RE NEAR FERDINAND?!?!

**PRINCE ROMAN <3: **Patton, darling who is Ferdinand? 

**pattoncake:** THE CORN STALK LION!!!! i helped build him!

**pocket protector:** Patton, you helped to build the maze?

**pattoncake:** no, i didn’t help build the maze, but i did help make the animals!!!

**pocket protector:** Roman, I am looking at the map right now.

**pocket protector:** Which you should also have a copy of, need I remind you, and which is designed SPECIFICALLY FOR SMALL CHILDREN.

**PRINCE ROMAN <3: **JUST TELL ME HOW TO GET OUT OF HERE, LOGAN

**pocket protector:** Two lefts, a right, and then straight into the center.

**PRINCE ROMAN <3: **Thank you, my prince <3~

**pocket protector:** ;kladjf;lskdjf;aadsf

**PRINCE ROMAN <3: **Is . . . he okay? 

**p!ateverywhere:** he totally didn’t just keysmash and yeet his phone at that nickname

**PRINCE ROMAN <3: **Awwwwww, Logan!” 

**pocket protector:** Falsehood

**PRINCE ROMAN:** Suuuuuuuuure, Logan.

**PRINCE ROMAN <3: **I see you!


	11. day eleven: hay ride

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> patton plans a special date for his boyfriends at his place of employment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: none that i can think of!

Patton is practically _vibrating_ with excitement as he stands in the parking lot, bouncing up and down as he searches eagerly for his boyfriends’ car. Finally, finally, _finally,_ Logan’s dark-blue car pulls into the gravel parking lot, and Logan, Roman, and Virgil spill out. 

“ _Guys!_ ” Patton shrieks, sprinting towards them. He trips over his untired boot lace and almost faceplants, but a pair of firm, strong arms wrap around his waist and catch him, holding him secure against a nice, warm chest. He relaxes into the arms of his savior, sighing happily.

“Patton, please try to refrain from injuring yourself,” Logan says, shifting his grip around Patton to allow him to stand up properly. Patton giggles and leans up to kiss Logan in gratitude.

“I know, Lolo, but if I _do_ get into trouble, I have you to save me!”

Logan sighs fondly, pushing his face into Patton’s soft curls. “I suppose that is true enough. I will endeavor to take care of you, whatever circumstances may befall.”

“What are we, chopped liver?” Virgil grumbles. He’s smiling, though, as he reaches forward and tugs on the starched-stiff collar of Patton’s uniform polo. Patton happily kisses him, and when Roman makes an offended noise Patton is quick to kiss him, too.

“So, are you ready to go?” Logan asks.

“Go?” 

“You called us here to pick you up from work, did you not?” 

“Nope!” Patton chirps. “I’m still on shift, but we have a date tonight?”  

“But you just said you’re still on shift!”

“Yep!”  
  
“Pat, what are we doing?” Virgil demands lightly. Patton grins.

“Mr. Sanders closed the hayride to the public! The last ride is all ours!”

Patton leads them to the place where customers get on the hayride. The wagon is large and full of hay bales to sit on, with soft, fluffy hay piled on the floor. Thomas, Patton’s boss, is gently scratching the nose of the massive, jet-black draft horse hitched to the wagon, and he smiles warmly when he sees the four of them approaching. 

“Patton! These the _special someones_ you mentioned?”  
  
“Yep! Thank so much again for doing this, Mr. Sanders!” Patton says brightly.

“Hey, you’re the one who volunteered to muck out Shadow’s stall and wash him down tomorrow,” Thomas says.

“I like spending time with him! And he likes hanging out with me, don’t you boy?” Patton coos. Shadow snorts and leans forward to gently nuzzle his nose into Patton’s chest. Patton produces a carrot from his pocket and offers it to Shadow. 

“ _What if he bites your hand off?!_ ” Virgil whimpers, hiding behind Patton. Shadow leans down and delicately takes the carrot between his teeth before lifting his head back and aggressively scarfing it down.

“Shadow’s a sweetheart, honestly! He only _looks_ scary,” Patton says. 

“Like a certain emo shadowling we know?” Roman teases. Virgil sticks his tongue out at him as they climb into the hayride, but he still snuggles into Roman’s side when they settle into the hayride. Thomas wraps the reins loosely around his hands. 

“Are you all ready to go back there?” 

“We’re good, boss!” Patton calls. He’s planted firmly in Logan’s lap, with his legs kicked up across Roman and Virgil, snuggling happily into all three of his boyfriends as the wagon jolts into motion.

“This is a pretty great date, Patton,” Virgil hums, leaning forward to kiss him. “Sorry you had to trade your day off, though.”

“Are you kidding? I get a date with my awesome boyfriends _and_ I get to spend a day with Shadow? It’s a win-win!” 

“You _would_ see it that way,” Logan laughs. “Our eternal optimist, our silver lining.” 

Patton rubs his warm nose against Logan’s chilled one before he kisses his boyfriend again.


	12. day twelve: apple picking/caramel apples

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> patton and his boyfriends go apple picking, and then virgil makes caramel apples from scratch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: none that i can think of!

Patton strains towards a particularly nice apple, but it hangs just a few inches too high. His fingertips don’t even graze the ruby-red skin. “Need a little help there, Pat?” Virgil asks, setting another apple into his bucket.

“Do you mind, Vee?” Patton asks. “I’m not tall enough to reach on my own, and that’s a really good one!”

Virgil kisses Patton before kneeling down and allowing his boyfriend to climb onto his shoulders. “Of course I don’t mind. You weigh, like, nothing at all, and also I love you.” Patton kisses the top of Virgil’s head (which he can reach at his current position), arranges his skirt down around his legs, and grips his shoulders for stability as Virgil stands up. “Here we go, Pat!”

Patton laughs loudly as Virgil stands, slowly to avoid freaking Patton out, and steps closer to the tree. With Virgil’s added height, Patton can easily reach the apple he’d been reaching for, as well as a whole new slew of apples that had been out of both of their reaches previously. “Are you okay if I keep going?”

Virgil takes the apple from Patton and gently sets it into the bucket. “I’m okay for now, Pat.” Patton eagerly reaches for more apples, but not before he leans down and tilts Virgil’s head to press a tiny chaste kiss to his nose.

When Roman and Logan come into their aisle of the orchard, Virgil is just letting Patton off of his shoulders. Patton smooths the wrinkles out of his skirt and squeaks in surprise as Roman sweeps him into his arms, nuzzling his nose into his hair before kissing him.

“Hello, my lovely prince!” Roman laughs loudly. “How was your apple-picking quest? Was it successful?” 

“Two and a half plastic buckets full,” Virgil says, wrapping his arm around Logan’s shoulders and leaning into him. “I’d say we did alright, wouldn’t you?” 

“Put them with the others,” Logan says, gesturing to the two full plastic buckets in their apple wagon. Patton reaches toward one of the apple buckets, straining, and Roman plucks an apple off the top and rubs it on his shirt to clean it off before offering it to Patton.

When they get back to Virgil’s patisserie, they take the buckets of apples into the kitchen. “Okay, so, what are we doing with these?” Logan asks.   
  
Virgil squints at the apples. “I want three of these for pies,” he says, “and we can keep that fourth bucket for eating, and this last half-bucket is gonna be caramel apples.”   
  
“Caramel apples?” Roman gasps. “I _love_ caramel apples! Can I help melt the caramel squares?”

Virgil looks at him as though he’s grown a second head. “What are you talking about?”

“Melting the caramel squares!” Roman says. “You know, you throw the caramel squares into the pot and you melt them into liquid and then you dip the apples into them! Can I help?” 

“Roman, I _own a patisserie_. I’m making my own caramel. From scratch. You’re welcome to watch if you want.” 

“You can _make your own caramel_?!”

Virgil facepalms. “Roman, I have been making homemade caramel since I was twelve years old. Yes, I can make my own caramel.” Roman’s eyes are wide and starry.

Virgil adds the brown sugar, the half and half, the butter, and some vanilla into a saucepan and whisks it until it becomes a thick, rich sauce. While he does that, Patton and Roman and Logan wash the apples clean and carefully insert wooden dowels into them. “Alright, are you guys ready?” 

Patton takes an apple and holds it by the dowel, carefully inserting it into the caramel sauce and swirling it around to coat it fully. “That’s it,” Virgil says, as Patton sets the apple carefully on a parchment-paper-lined baking tray. “Great! Who’s next, Roman?” 

By the time the caramel sauce runs out, they’ve dipped half the apples, and the first few are cool enough to eat. Patton eagerly sinks his teeth through the soft, chewy caramel and into the crisp apple, and he’s never tasted anything so good in his life.


	13. day thirteen: friday the 13th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> virgil is nervous about friday the thirteenth, and his boyfriends reassure him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: unspecific mentions of anxiety

Patton scratches his head, and glowing golden dust trickles out of his caramel-colored curls and lands on his shoulders. “Not again!” he groans, brushing it off. There are times he hates being part leprechaun. Virgil catches the luck in his palms and frantically rubs it all over his face and forearms.  
  
“What are you doing, honey?”

Virgil blinks at Patton. “I’m preparing myself for tomorrow.” 

“What’s tomorrow?” 

Virgil looks around furtively and whispers, “Friday the 13th, Pat!”

“Okay, so?” 

“SO, that’s the unluckiest day of the year!” Virgil argues. “That’s the day I’m most likely to die! If I have a little extra luck on my side, that decreases my chances of catastrophic events!” 

“I really think you’re going to be fine, Virge. Nothing bad is going to happen!” 

Virgil opens his mouth to speak, but he’s interrupted by a musical, trilling meow as a sleek, black cat strolls across Virgil’s path and weaves around Patton’s legs. “Hey there, Logan!” Patton chirps. Logan yawns, revealing his sharp, white teeth, and rubs his head gently against Patton’s shins before turning his luminescent eyes on Virgil. One eye is glimmering golden, the other is piercing green.

“Logan, please tell Virgil that Friday the 13th is nothing to be afraid of!”

Logan flicks his ears and leaps out of Patton’s arms. In midair, he glows and shifts into a human form wearing a black polo and a dark blue tie. Two black cat ears stick out of his fluffy brown hair, and there’s a black tail swishing around behind him. One eye is green, and the other is golden brown.

“Virgil, Patton is correct. Friday the 13th is nothing to be afraid of.” 

“Easy for you to say!” Virgil says. “You’re a _BLACK CAT_ , Logan! It’s your day!”

“You think that day is easy for me?” Logan says, raising an eyebrow. “I get bottles and cans thrown at me all day. People are _afraid_ of me, all the time, because they think I bring bad luck.”

“You’re not bad luck,” Virgil says immediately, wrapping his arms around Logan’s waist and sliding a hand into Logan’s hair to scratch around his ears. Logan purrs a little, nuzzling into his hair. 

Patton cups his hands and allows his luck to gather in his hands. The fine powder is light in his hands, so light he can barely feel it even though it’s a fairly sizeable mound. He lifts his hands and blows, and the golden dust floats through the air and lands on Logan and Virgil. It clings to them in a thin golden film, and Virgil sighs. “It’s gonna be okay, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Logan says. “It will.” 

“Doesn’t Roman need luck?” Virgil asks.  
  
“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure he gets luck before tomorrow,” Patton says. He remembers the panic attack Virgil had last year and how relaxed he seems now, wrapped up in Logan’s arms and Patton’s luck, and yeah. Sometimes he doesn’t mind being part leprechaun.


	14. day fourteen: pumpkin spice lattes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> logan and virgil enjoy pumpkin spice lattes in secret. roman and patton find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: none that i can think of!!

Virgil wraps his hands around the paper coffee cup and gently blows on it. Steam wafts across the living room, and he leans as close as he dares to sniff the delectable flavor. As far as he knows, the only other boyfriend in his apartment right now is Logan, and Logan’s not gonna judge him for indulging in a guilty pleasure that they both share. 

He closes his eyes, presses his lips to the plastic lid, and very gently tips his head and the cup back to allow the sweet, warm drink to slip down his throat. Pumpkin spice floods his mouth, and he shivers a little. It tastes absolutely amazing, and even though he’ll mock it to hell and back, he can’t deny that he enjoys pumpkin spice lattes.

He hears footsteps and freezes, but it’s only Logan, wearing his unicorn onesie and carrying his own pumpkin spice latte. He sits on the couch and tucks his feet up beneath him, happily and sleepily snuggling into Virgil. “Hey, Virge,” he mumbles. 

“Hey there, Lolo,” he replies. Logan tilts his head and gently kisses Virgil’s jaw before sipping at his latte. Virgil takes another sip of his own and leans his head onto Logan’s. Patton and Roman are doing something dramatic and Halloween-themed, which means they have the apartment to themselves and their nap and their pumpkin spice lattes.

Logan makes it about halfway through his drink before he falls asleep, and Virgil (who’s been carefully monitoring him) manages to catch his cup before it falls off his lap and spills all over the carpet. He sets the half-full drink on the coffee table and takes another long, contented sip of his latte.

Virgil’s latte is all but gone, the empty cup on the end table next to him, and he’s falling asleep on a lightly snoring Logan when the door opens. He dimly registers Roman’s and Patton’s voices, but he’s too cozy and warm to want to get up. Logan grumbles sleepily and nuzzles into the curve of Virgil’s neck and shoulder.

"Awww, you two are so cute!” Patton coos. Virgil hears the distinctive sharp _click!_ of Patton’s phone camera, but he can’t bring himself to be too bothered about it. Patton takes photos of a lot of weird shit, but Virgil wouldn’t be surprised if this particular photo happens to end up as Patton’s phone wallpaper.

“Allow me to clear this debris from – well, well, well, what have we _here_?” Roman drawls. Virgil opens one eye halfway to see Roman holding Logan’s half-empty coffee cup and swishing the liquid back and forth, sniffing at it. 

“Roman, stop that!” Patton says disapprovingly. “You don’t know what that is!”   
  
“Oh, but I _do_ know what this is,” Roman says gleefully. “ _This_ , Patton, is nothing other than a _pumpkin spice latte_ , with none other than _our own dear Logan’s_ name on it in Sharpie! And would you look at that – a matching empty cup with Virgil’s name on it! Now, what could be the meaning of _this_ , I wonder!”   
  
“Knock it off, Princey,” Virgil mutters. Both of his boyfriends seem surprised that he’s awake, but that doesn’t stop Roman from launching into one of his patented Offended Prince Tirades™. 

“You make fun of me for drinking pumpkin spice lattes _all the time_!” he screeches. 

“Ssshhhh, Ro, don’t wake up Logan!” Patton chastises. 

“And you have the _nerve_ to go and drink them with _Logan_ behind my _back_!”

“I’m not making fun of you because you drink pumpkin spice lattes,” Virgil says. “I’m making fun of you because you drink pumpkin spice lattes _and you act like a stereotypical teenage white girl_. I don’t have an issue with the drinks. You’re just a ridiculous man.”

Roman makes a serious of offended squeaking noises and wild gestures before settling for downing what’s left of Logan’s latte and storming into the kitchen to dispose of the paper cups. “You could be a little nicer, you know,” Patton says. 

Virgil grins and curls into Logan, already falling back to sleep. “Yeah, I could, but let’s be honest, Pat – where’s the fun in that?”


	15. day fifteen: pranks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> patton and roman attempt to prank logan and virgil. it backfires.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: the briefest mention of spiders

Patton giggles as Roman unrolls the saran wrap and begins taping it at face level across the entrance to the kitchen. “Are you sure that this isn’t gonna hurt them?”

“Of course not! It’ll bruise Logan’s pride really badly, but he’ll get over it. Logan and Virgil are gonna be okay and this is gonna be HILARIOUS for us! Besides, aren’t they the ones that left all those plastic spiders everywhere?”

Patton shivers. “Creepy crawly death dealers!” 

Roman finishes taping the saran wrap over the door and grins at Patton. “Do you have the video camera?” 

Patton shakes the camera at Roman. “Rolling!” 

Roman grins and scrambles off upstairs to get Logan and Virgil. The plan is that he’ll tell them that Patton needs them urgently in the kitchen. Then, when they come running in, they’ll smash into the saran wrap and get stuck. Patton will film it, Roman will laugh, and they’ll have their revenge for the spider prank thing.

Patton hears rapid footsteps in the hallway, and suddenly a black-and-purple blur speeds down the hallway, slides underneath the saran wrap, and pops up in the kitchen. Virgil shoves his messy hair out of his face and looks at Patton with wide eyes. “Are you okay, Pat? Do you need anything?”

“I’m – I’m okay, Virge,” Patton manages, still slightly in shock that Virgil manages to dodge the prank. “I was just – we were –”

Before he can even blink, Logan comes sprinting into the hallway. Patton steadies the video camera, preparing to _finally_ catch someone running into the prank on tape, but he’s both disappointed _completely flabbergasted_ when Logan simply _drops to his knees_ and slides forward before popping back up onto his feet, readjusting his tie as though nothing has happened. 

“Ah, Patton. Roman mentioned that you were in distress?”

Patton’s jaw is on the floor. “You . . . you just . . . how did you . . . I . . . wh-what the . . .”  
  
Logan crosses over to stand next to Virgil, kissing both Patton and Virgil on the forehead. “Roman said you needed something from me. What was it?”

“A . . . kiss,” Patton manages. 

“I just gave you one, but alright.” Logan leans down and kisses Patton properly. When he pulls away, he looks back at the saran wrap across the doorframe and opens his mouth (probably to comment on it) but is derailed by Roman running into the kitchen.

“Did they fall for it, Pat? Did you record –”

_THWACK_. 

Roman collides headlong with the saran wrap and falls flat on his back, the wind knocked clean out of him. Patton, Logan, and Virgil stare at him for a split second before all three of them burst into loud, wheezing laughter.


	16. day sixteen: couples' costumes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> patton, roman, logan, and virgil try to coordinate their halloween costumes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: none that i can think of!!

Patton plants himself securely in Virgil’s lap, letting Virgil wrap his arms around his waist and hug him close. Roman sits on Virgil’s left and kicks his legs up into Patton’s and Virgil’s laps, leaning into Virgil as Logan paces in front of the couch, looking at a notebook and muttering to himself.

“Lo, honey, it’s gonna be okay,” Patton soothes.

Logan looks at him critically, pushing his glasses further up his nose and running another hand through his already disheveled hair. “Patton, the party is _next week_! And since I know that Roman is prone to elaborate costumes, I had hoped that we would settle on a set of costumes by now, and yet we still find ourselves at an impasse!”

“I don’t know why you’re so against going as the Beatles for Halloween, Lolo,” Roman says, waving his hand dismissively at Logan. “It’s a group of four, it’s a recognizable group, and I think it would work just fine!” 

“Not all of us enjoy that music, Roman, and I do not want to field nonsensical questions about a band that I do not listen to!” 

Roman heaves a massive, unhappy sounding sigh, but instead of shouting at Logan he just nuzzles into Virgil’s neck and groans, “Fine! Fine, we’ll dress up as something else!”

“What are your ideas, Logan?” Patton asks. Logan blushes, looking down at his notebook before shaking his head. “Lo?”

“I . . . I have been wracking my brains for weeks, Patton, and yet I cannot find something that is completely satisfactory. Most group costumes are either couples’ costumes meant for two people or costumes meant for a group larger than four. I have considered simply picking two couples’ costumes and pairing off, but that did not feel . . . _right_. I want to match with all of you.”

“Awww, you _do_ care about us!” Roman laughs. Logan turns even pinker.

“Of course I do!”

“That’s enough now,” Patton says. “Logan, we appreciate you trying. What about . . . what about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?”

“We could do that,” Logan muses. “We did already decide which of us would be which turtle, after all . . .”

“Pass,” Roman says. “Those costumes are bulky and heavy, and they get uncomfortable after a short period of time. I don’t wanna deal with that." 

They debate for a while longer, until Virgil finally says, “Guys. What about benders?”

“Benders?”

“Yeah. I’ll be a waterbender, Logan can be an earthbender, Roman can be a firebender, and Patton can be an airbender.” 

“We wouldn’t be specific benders from the _Avatar_ and _Legend of Korra_ franchises?” Logan muses. “Would people still know who we are?”

“I think the costumes are iconic enough that we’d still be recognizable,” Roman argues. “And the costumes are simple enough to recreate. I think it works perfectly!" 

“It’s a great idea, Virge!” Patton cheers, taking full advantage of his position on Virgil’s lap to cup his pink face and kiss him. “We’re so lucky to have you!” Virgil stammers wildly, flustered, as Roman turns his face to kiss him. Logan makes a note to _Research the availability of Avatar-themed costumes_ before setting his notebook on the coffee table, crossing the room, and pressing a kiss of his own to Virgil’s soft mouth.


	17. day seventeen: scary movie night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> logan always deconstructs scary movies for his boyfriends. they repay the favor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: mentions of scary movies, spider mention, anxiety, mentions of space and the ocean

Patton whimpers and curls into Logan’s arms, burying his face into his shoulder as Aragog clicks closer to Harry and Ron. “Th-th-there are so many s-s-spiders, Logan!” he sobs. “There . . . there are . . . there are so many . . .”  
  
A swarm of spiders appears, and Patton squeaks in fear, tears slipping out of his eyes. Logan gently rubs his back, watching the movie without any problem. He gently hugs Patton closer, sliding one hand up to cup the back of Patton’s head and threading his fingers through the silky-soft curls. “Patton, it is alright. The spiders are not real. They are merely the production of countless hours of computer animation. They are not real arachnids.”  
  
“A-are you sure?”  
  
“Yes, Patton, I am sure. You are alright now. I will take care of you.”  
  
Roman reaches for another tissue and blows his nose, watching his fifth tearjerker rom-com in a row. Logan pats at his knee, holding the massive container of ice cream on his lap as Roman sobs. “Are you alright?”

“Wh-what if that’s me?” Roman whimpers. “I’m – I’m so scared that I’ll do something stupid like that and I’ll lose you and Pat and Vee, and I – it’s my worst fear, what do I do if that comes true?” 

“That’s highly unlikely,” Logan says. “Movies such as these are manufactured to cause maximum drama. These scenarios would almost never happen in real life, and in any case, regardless of what Virgil and Patton might do, I would never do something so illogical as to simply reject you without the full story. And I would convince them not to abandon you, although I do not believe that they would. They love you too much.” 

Roman snuggles into Logan’s arms, and Logan kisses the top of his head. 

Virgil sits stiff as a board, eyes locked firmly on the screen, refusing to look away as the door to the spaceship is ripped open.

“That’s not how space works,” Logan says, reaching over to take his hand. “Even if you didn’t have a spacesuit on, you would not instantly perish. You have ninety seconds at most to get help and return to the spaceship.”  
  
“So – so you don’t freeze instantly?”

“No,” Logan says, and there are more terrifying space facts building in his brain but he pushes them down in favor of pulling Virgil in for a tight hug. “You are alright, Virgil. We can watch a different movie if you wish.”

Virgil shakes his head. “No, I – I’m okay. I’ll be fine, but let’s – let’s watch something else after this, okay?”  
  
Logan smiles gently. “Of course.” 

Logan doesn’t know why he agreed to this. He knows that Roman wanted to see this movie, but he isn’t sure he likes all of this deep-sea imagery. He knows the others know of his fear of what _exactly_ is at the bottom of the ocean, since no one knows (and they likely never will), and he thought he could handle this but he was wrong –

A hand touches his wrist. “They based this off of fossils that they uncovered,” Patton says casually, gently rubbing circles into Logan’s inner wrist with his thumb, right over Logan’s pulse point. “But they took a lot of creative liberties, too.” 

An arm drapes across his shoulders. “And the fossils they used are eons old,” Roman adds, dropping his head onto Logan’s shoulders. “They’ve been dead for longer than humans as we know them have existed.” 

A weight settles onto his lap. “Plus, these guys are all morons who don’t know the first thing about water safety,” Virgil grunts, shifting to make himself comfortable and accidentally-on-purpose blocking Logan’s view of the screen. “Real sailors would fuckin’ know better.”

Logan leans his head against Virgil’s and smiles to himself. He really is lucky to have such wonderful boyfriends.


	18. day eighteen:

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> logan hates being a werewolf sometimes.   
> (logan is a werewolf, virgil is a dark fae, roman is a banshee, patton is frankenstein's monster)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: brief mention of stimming/injury but nothing serious

Logan really hates being a werewolf sometimes.

There is an unspoken rule that Virgil and Roman are the only ones allowed to get the mail in their house. Virgil’s human disguise is convincing, even for a fae, and Roman doesn’t look like a banshee unless he screams. But Patton is too obvious, with his massive sewn-over scars everywhere. Logan can tuck his tail into his pants and hide it well enough, and his fluffy brown ears can be hidden in his fluffy brown hair with bobby pins and effort, but he cannot restrain himself from snarling whenever the mailman comes around. 

He’s sitting on the couch with Patton, reading his book, but he can’t focus. His jaw keeps twitching absently, and he’s trying not to grind his teeth but he still cannot shake the feeling that there’s something _missing_. 

“Logan?” Patton asks. “Do you want this?"

Logan looks up from his book to see Patton offering him a small, bright yellow, bone-shaped thing covered in little bumpy bits. He bites back the growl building in his throat. “Patton.”

“Yes, Lolo?” 

“Is that a chew toy?” 

Patton smiles at him, the weird little lop-sided grin that he has where it looks like his jawbone is going to fall off (although it has yet to do so). “Yeah, but not – not for fetch or anything.” They’ve tried playing various dog-themed games with Logan, but unless it’s a full moon, he refuses to comply. “I just – you always move your mouth like you’re chewing on something when you think, and I was wondering if maybe it was because you needed something to do with your mouth. Virgil has stuff he stims with, so I thought – it’s not even squeaky!”

Logan takes it hesitantly. It does seem to be made of a durable rubber, and the texture is nice beneath his fingers. “You . . . this is for me?”

“Yeah?”   
  
Logan leans over and kisses Patton’s cheek. “Thank you. I . . . I appreciate it, a lot.”

He slides the chew toy in between his teeth and gnaws on it, and he has to admit that it’s easier to focus on what he’s doing when he has something to absentmindedly chew on while he’s working.

When he comes home from work, he secures the door behind him and makes sure the windows are shuttered. His tail aches from being pinned all day, and he’s quick to scramble upstairs and pull his belt off. Logan all but throws his dress pants off as his tail springs out from where he’d wrapped it, wagging furiously back and forth for a few minutes. Logan lets it go for a few minutes – he’s genuinely happy to have it free, and the motion is good for his stiff muscles. When it finally stills, he pulls on sweatpants with a hole cut in the back to let his tail out and a t-shirt before going downstairs. 

His ears still throb where they’re bobby-pinned to his head, and he growls as he sits at the kitchen table and fiddles with them, trying to pull them out. The sharp end of the pin grazes the hypersensitive skin on the edge of his ear, and he yelps, whimpering a little at the pain.

“Logan?” 

Virgil pokes his head into the kitchen, quickly followed by Roman. Logan tugs at the bobby pin, grazes his ear again, and whimpers again, and Virgil crosses the kitchen quickly. “Lo, here, let us help you. We can see what we’re doing.”

With their help, it’s not long before Logan’s ears are springing up off the top of his head, flicking a few times to shake back into the proper shape. Roman kisses the grazed edge as Virgil lightly scratches around the base, and Logan doesn’t even try to stop his tail from wagging.

Sometimes he doesn’t hate being a werewolf as much.  


	19. day nineteen: haunted house

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> thomas sanders runs a legendary haunted house in the month of october, but for some reason, he closes it on halloween.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: mentions of death (since there are ghosts) but nothing specific/graphic, ghosts (obvs)

Thomas smiles, gently ushering the last group of customers out of his house. The teenagers giggle and chatter to themselves, still shaking just a little from the scare. “I’m glad you enjoyed the haunted house!” he says. “Please come again next year!”

“Are you open again tomorrow?” one of the teenagers asks. Thomas shakes his head.

“Sorry, but I’m closed on Halloween.”

“What?” the girl gasps. “Wouldn’t that be, like, your busiest day of the year? That’s what haunted houses are for!”

“Maybe,” Thomas laughs, “but I do well enough the other thirty days of the month. I’m glad you had fun!” The teenagers giggle and grin and wave as they head down the sidewalk, and Thomas waves back as he steps into his house, locking his door securely.

He yawns as he walks into the kitchen, pulling out the peanut butter, when suddenly a head pokes through his counter and shrieks, “ _Fear me!_ ” 

Thomas slides the bread into the toaster. “Hey there, Roman.” 

Roman phases fully through the counter and hovers cross-legged above it, pouting. “I was trying to be scary! Why don’t you ever let me scare you?” 

“I mean, I haven’t stopped you from trying yet, Roman. You just keep failing to terrify me. It’s not even that you aren’t scary, you’re just predictable.”   
  
Roman sticks his tongue out and launches himself at Thomas, who merely shivers as the ghost passes clean through him. “I am not predictable! I am terrifying! Fear me, Thomas!” 

“I’m terrified,” Virgil drawls sardonically, appearing in the shadows on top of the fridge. Roman phases into the refrigerator and appears on top of it, tackling Virgil off of the fridge and straight through the floor. 

Thomas rolls his eyes and pulls his toast out, making his sandwich. A shiver runs down his spine, and he turns around to see his older brother hovering in the air. “Hey, Lo.”   
  
“Thomas,” Logan greets, shimmering like a heat mirage in the air. “It is almost midnight.”  
  
“Yeah, it is. I made sure to stock up on double the Crofter’s this year, so you can eat your jam in peace without Roman stealing it. He’s got his own jars and everything – I made sure that I labelled them.” 

Logan walks up to the fridge and pushes his head through the door. “Ah, so you did. I appreciate it, Thomas.”

“I mean, you only get to eat real food one night a year, Lo, I wanna make sure I have your favorites.” Logan pulls out of the refrigerator and looks at his brother with a smile that’s only a little bit sad.

 “Thank you.” 

Thomas’s eyes flicker from the television screen to the clock, which reads _11:58_. Patton is hovering just above the couch next to him, and he’s sure Logan and the other two are somewhere close. “Almost Halloween!” Patton laughs. “Are you excited, Thomas?”  
  
“Pat, I live in a literal haunted house,” Thomas laughs. “Every day is Halloween for me.”

“Yeah, but it’s only on _actual_ Halloween that we get to interact with the corporeal plane!” Patton chirps.   
  
“Yeah, Pat, I know. And . . . yeah, I am excited.”   
  
Thomas switches the television off and stands, stretching and cracking his back as the clock ticks one minute closer to midnight. The air shimmers as the other three spirits that live in his house materialize, and Thomas watches as they fall easily into place with each other. Logan slides an arm around Virgil’s waist and laces his fingers with Roman as Patton snuggles under Virgil’s other arm.

“Are you ready?” Logan asks. Thomas nods.

“Yeah, I am.”

The clock strikes midnight, and the four ghosts hovering above his floor gently drop down to the carpet. Roman sprawls out on the couch, and Virgil carelessly flops on top of him, snuggling into his arms. Patton grins brightly and immediately heads into the kitchen to start cooking the yearly feast he makes when he has full use of the kitchen again.

Logan beelines straight for Thomas, and Thomas crashes into the corporeal form of his older brother. Logan hugs him close, one hand cupping the back of his head and the other rubbing gently up and down his spine. “Hello, Thomas,” Logan sighs. 

Thomas smiles into his shoulder. He really, _really_ loves Halloween.


	20. day twenty: haunted carnival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> virgil is forced to explore an abandoned carnival to do his job.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: brief, nonspecific mentions of anxiety and violence

Virgil regrets agreeing to this job.

He’d done it out of obligation, of course; after he’d been saved from one of the rampaging shadows by the other three and been offered the chance to repay the favor, he’d jumped at the chance. And he’d gotten good things out of the deal – three loving, wonderful boyfriends, the chance to help other people before they succumb to loneliness and despair – but there are still times he has regrets. 

Walking into a haunted carnival might be the biggest one he has. 

“Are you sure we have to do this?” he asks, dragging his feet just a little. Patton reaches over and takes his hand, lacing their fingers together as Logan tilts his head, an eerie glow in his irises as he feels for the shadow they’ve come to eliminate.

“If we don’t, it’s just gonna find some innocent human to latch onto and drain their life force,” Roman says, uncharacteristically serious. He runs his fingers along the edges of the red gem dangling from his bracelet, eyes scanning back and forth for any potential danger. 

“I know that,” Virgil says. “That’s the whole reason I became a – a hero.”   
  
“You can call us what we are, Virge,” Patton says cheerily. 

“I hate that name,” Virgil grumbles. “It’s dumb.” 

“It’s not dumb!” Patton argues. “I really like it!”

“Will you two be _quiet?_ ” Logan hisses. “I am trying to listen for –”

A shriek reverberates through the air as a faint breath of wind stirs the tattered scraps of cloth hanging off the metal tent skeletons. Virgil tenses up, hand leaving Patton’s to clutch the gem tied around his own wrist. “How close?” Patton asks, and he’s slipping into his team-commander-mode voice as he rolls up his sleeves to reveal his gem, gleaming bright blue in the faint rays of dying sunlight. 

Logan narrows his eyes. “Close,” he breathes. “I believe it would be in our best interests to –”

“ _Duck!_ ” Roman screeches, tackling Patton out of the way as a large black shape explodes out of one of the ruined tents. Logan rolls out of the way and springs up behind the shadow, looking largely unharmed (if shaken). 

“Virge, we gotta transform, _now!_ ” Patton says. Virgil nods, body tense, and wraps his hands around the shining purple gem. He closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and concentrates on every good, positive, happy thought that he can muster. He concentrates on the will he has to protect innocent people, on the drive he has to protect his boyfriends, on the amount of love he has for them. 

Brilliant purple ribbons explode out from the center of his chest and wrap around him, spiraling down his arms, his legs, and his torso, completely engulfing him in a warm glow. He closes his eyes, letting his transformation wash over him. 

Virgil opens his eyes to see Logan drawing his bow as a gleaming blue arrow materializes, to see the bright red light of Roman’s sword shining in the darkness of the abandoned carnival, to hear the _crack_ of Patton’s whip slicing through the air as he drives the shadow away from Virgil.

“You ready, Virge?” Roman calls, launching himself through the air. Virgil marvels how the soft, floofy layers of his skirt don’t fly up off his thighs as he scores a hit against the shadow.

Virgil smooths his own skirt as Logan fires his bow, raising his gloved hands and using his forcefields to fence the shadow in. “Ready.” 

He supposes being a magical girl doesn’t  _always_  suck (although he does still hate that name). 


	21. day twenty-one: ghost!side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> thomas gets used to logan’s presence again, just in a different way. (continuation of/prequel to my day 19 prompt)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: minor angst (happy ending), brief nonspecific death mention (bc they are ghosts), ghosts

The first time Thomas notices that Logan hasn’t departed the corporeal plane is three months after Logan’s funeral. 

He’s just finished showering, towel slung loosely around his shoulders, in nothing but comfortable sweatpants and fuzzy socks. He rubs at his damp hair with the towel, running his toothbrush under the water as he brushes his teeth for the night. It’s nine-thirty at night, much earlier than he normally goes to bed, but now that he’s the only person in the house he finds it takes him much longer than normal to fall asleep. 

Thomas spits his toothpaste out into the sink and rinses his mouth, sighing. He misses Logan, a lot, and he’s not looking forward to another night curling into a ball and crying himself to sleep. He straightens up, wiping his mouth with the hand towel hanging next to the sink, and when he looks in the slightly foggy mirror, he makes a strangled gasping noise, toothbrush clinking into the sink in shock.

In the mirror, he can see an image of Logan. His older brother is hovering above the tiled bathroom floor, cross-legged, staring back at him in shock. “Oh – _oh my God_ , I – you – _Logan?!_ ”

Thomas whirls around, eyes wide, staring at the empty bathroom behind him. He doesn’t see his brother, but he can see a faint shimmery patch in the air. It reminds him of the air directly over a grill when it’s on, or the air over asphalt when it’s very hot. It shimmers like heat waves in midsummer, but it does not look like his brother. 

His shoulders slump, disappointed, and he turns back to the mirror. It was stupid to get his hopes up – Logan is dead, and he’s not coming back. Thomas looks into the mirror, and gasps, because Logan’s image is _still in the mirror_. Thomas watches, in shock, tearing up, as Logan moves his mouth as though speaking, but no sound comes out. “I – L-Logan, I can’t – I can’t hear you.”

Logan closes his mouth, winces, and then appears to move closer to him, until it looks as though he’s hovering right behind him.

“L . . . Logan?” Thomas whispers, blinking once and feeling tears spilling down his face.

Logan reaches forward, towards the mirror, and Thomas watches as the steam on the mirror begins to dissipate as the mirror-image of Logan moves his index finger and words appear on his mirror. 

_Hello, Tommy. You can see me?_

“I – I can see you in the mirror, Lo. And – and I can – I can’t hear you but – but are you – are you r-really here?”

Logan’s image rests a hand on his shoulder. It passes clean through him, but Thomas shudders as a chill runs through him and a shiver skitters down his spine. “You . . . I . . . _Logan_?”

The image nods, eyes watering, and Thomas wipes at his eyes with the towel around his neck. “I . . . you . . . you’re really h-here?” 

Another nod.

Logan shows up a lot more frequently after that. Thomas still can’t see him unless he looks into a reflective surface, so he takes to carrying a small hand mirror around with him so that he can see Logan. Logan never accompanies him outside of the house, but inside the house he sticks to Thomas like a shadow. Thomas takes to letting his mirrors steam up so that Logan can write little messages on them.

He is introduced to the other ghosts in his house one by one. Logan prepares him for that – _There are other ghosts in the house, Tommy. They’re my boyfriends now_ – and they all seem nice enough. There’s one in some sort of prince costume, one in a blue polo shirt, and one in a hoodie, and they pop up periodically, but Logan shows up the most.

Thomas gets used to that. Then, one morning about two months after the initial appearance, he wakes up, and Logan is sitting on the end of his bed. (He’s hovering above the bed, actually, which Thomas has come to learn is just how ghosts sit.) He looks normal enough – a little shimmery around the edges, a little bit transparent, but otherwise he looks exactly like he always did, right down to the glasses and tie. 

“Logan?” Thomas asks, because he’s not used to seeing his brother without a mirror.

Logan looks at him, and his eyes are wide. He starts talking, but Thomas can’t hear him. “I – I still can’t hear you, Lo, but I – I can see you!” Logan grins, running a hand through his hair and waving a little at Thomas.

“Hey,” Thomas sniffles. He digs out the hand mirror and exhales on it to fog up the glass. Logan leans forward and traces his finger over the mirror.

_Hello, Thomas. You can see me without the mirror?_

“Yeah. You’re – I can see you.” Logan smiles again, gesturing to the mirror. Thomas wipes it with his sleeve and exhales on it again.

_Well, that is nice._

Four weeks later, Thomas is sitting at the table doing a crossword puzzle. Logan is hovering above the table, peering down at the newspaper, which Thomas has taken to spreading it out on the table so that his brother can read it in the mornings. Thomas worries the end of his pen in between his teeth as he scrutinizes the puzzle.

“Thirteen-letter word meaning very small,” he muses. “I have no idea what . . .” 

“Infinitesimal,” Logan says.

And Thomas hears him.

He sounds exactly like he did when he was alive, if a little bit more wavery. Thomas looks up at him, and Logan lifts his head and looks at Thomas, reaching to gesture towards the hand mirror.

“Logan, say – say that again?”

Logan blinks at him. “Infinitesim – you _heard that_?” 

“I did!” Thomas says excitedly. “I heard you! I – hi!” 

“That is – that is incredible,” Logan says, smiling, and Thomas grins. “It’s nice to talk to you without that silly mirror.”

“It’s nice to hear your voice,” Thomas sniffles. “I – god, Lo, I _missed that_ , I _miss_ you so much.” 

“I miss you, too,” Logan says quietly. “But I am still here, for whatever reason, and I am not leaving this house.”

All of the ghosts in Thomas’s house gather to watch movies the night before Halloween. Thomas sprawls out on the couch, and the ghosts hover a few inches above the floor. Logan is sandwiched between Patton and Roman, and Virgil is sprawled out over all three of them. Thomas yawns, hearing the clock strike midnight, and then he hears a thumping noise.

“Ow!” Patton complains. “That hurt!” 

“Play nice,” Thomas murmurs.

“Not that, I – I fell!”

Thomas sits up. “You – you what?”

“I fell onto the floor!” Thomas looks, and the four of them are, in fact, sitting on the floor. Roman stands up, and his feet touch the floor. He reaches towards the television remote sitting on the cabinet, and he picks it up. 

“What – what’s happening?” he asks.

“You all didn’t know?” Virgil says, rolling off of Logan and Patton and onto the carpet. “For the twenty-four hours on October 31st, we can interact with the living world again.”

“You’re the only one who was dead on Halloween last year,” Roman says, “so no, we didn’t.” They start bantering again, with Patton laughing and attempting to reign them in, but Logan stands up, staring at Thomas. Thomas, in turn, gets off the sofa. Logan reaches hesitantly towards him, and Thomas takes a single step closer. 

Logan’s fingertips skim his cheek, and then he’s pressing his hand against his brother’s face. And instead of the cold shiver that he usually gets as Logan’s hand passes through him, Thomas feels the warmth of Logan’s hand against his cheek. 

“Lolo?”

“Tommy,” Logan breathes, and then he’s surging forward and pulling Thomas towards him, and for the first time in almost a year, Thomas hugs his older brother, feeling Logan cup the back of his head and hug him close. “I – you – we –” 

“Yeah,” Thomas sobs shakily, pushing his face into Logan’s shoulder. “Yeah. I know, Lo. I know.”


	22. day twenty-two: out in a graveyard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> logan is a necromancer, and he enlists roman and virgil's help to plan a surprise for patton.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: bones/skeletons, mentions of graveyards

“Do you _promise_ that this is the last time?” Roman demands. 

Logan turns around, tilting his head at Roman even as he lifts the little glowing light-spell in his hand. “What?”   
  
“Do you promise that this is the _last time_ you drag us out into a graveyard at midnight?” Roman repeats. Virgil, next to him, is clinging tightly to Roman’s hand with one hand, and the other one is white-knuckled and shaking around his iron sword.

“It’s not like I want to be out here either,” Logan argues. 

“But you _like_ it out here!”

“Falsehood. It is too cold for my tastes.”

“That’s not the point!” Virgil snaps. “The point is that you don’t care about being surrounded by dead things! Roman and I do!”

Logan sighs, reaching forward to cup Virgil’s face and gently kiss his forehead. “I am sorry, my loves. Yes, I promise that this is the last time I will ask you to accompany me into a graveyard for a good while. I am very close to completing Patton’s surprise project.” 

Virgil shivers a little as a cold wind blows through the cemetery. “Are you s-sure that this is a g-good idea, Lo?”

“It’s the perfect idea, Virgil. Patton will love it, you know he will.”   
  
Virgil sighs. “Yeah, he will.”

They root around for a few minutes until Logan finds an acceptable place and pulls out his shovel. He works quickly, digging through a few feet of frost-hardened earth until he finds a wooden box, which he lifts from the ground quickly. Virgil presses his index finger against the lock and mutters a short spell, and the lock bursts open in a flash of purple light.

Logan tugs on his leather gloves, reaches into the box, and lifts out a few bones, observing them carefully in the glow of his light spell orb before setting some into the sack he has with him. Roman and Virgil avert their eyes as Logan works; he’s a necromancer, so he’s used to this kind of thing, but no one else is.

“Is that everything you needed?” Roman asks, rubbing his hands up and down his arms. “Virgil’s right, it’s cold out here. And it’s late, I’m tired. I kinda wanna sleep.”

Logan sifts through the bones in his sack. “Um . . . do I need a skull? No, I have that, I have the ribs, I have . . . nope, we’re good! Back home we go, loves.” 

“Thank god,” Virgil and Roman sigh.  

Virgil watches Patton intently to make sure that his eyes are covered as he and Roman lean him into the living room. When Patton removes his hand from his eyes, he sees a spell array drawn on the floor, with bones carefully laid out in a specific arrangement and Logan standing proudly behind it, grinning. 

“Lo?” Patton asks. “What are you doing?” 

“I’m making you something!” Logan says. “I wrote the spell and collected the bones all by myself, and I really hope you like it!”

Logan holds his hands out over the array and begins to chant. Unlike most other magicians, who use some form of Latin or Greek, Logan uses Welsh or Gaelic, so no one actually knows what he’s doing, but the spell glows so brightly that all three of them are forced to avert their eyes. 

When the glow dies down, Patton is the first one to look at the array, and he gasps loudly. “Logan? Is that a – _is that a kitty?!_ ”

Roman and Virgil look at the spell again, and sure enough, standing in the center of the spell is a skeletal cat. Its eye sockets glow green, and there’s a faint, translucent blue glow around the entire thing. Logan picks it up, and it lets out a soft, ghostly _mew_ and tucks its skull up against the underside of his chin. 

“You had mentioned that you were allergic to cats and saddened by that fact,” Logan says. “And since most pet allergies are a reaction to allergens located in the fur, the logical solution was to get you a cat that lacked fur. So I wrote a spell to reanimate these bones so that you could have a cat. I – I know it’s a little unorthodox, do – do you – do you like it?” 

Patton holds his arms out, and Logan carefully hands him the cat. “Lo, I – I _love it!_ ” he says, leaning forward to kiss Logan. “it’s the perfect gift, honey, thank you so much!” 

Virgil and Roman smile at each other; the surprised blush on Logan’s face and the sheer joy on Patton’s makes their midnight graveyard trek worth it.


	23. day twenty-three: heard a scary noise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> virgil hears something strange and is concerned for his boyfriends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: minor anxiety, mentions of horror films/blackouts

Virgil yawns, sliding his headphones over his ears and scrolling absently through his Tumblr instead of selecting a playlist. It’s a terrible habit he’s gotten into, of putting his headphones on and then just neglecting to play any music, but it also allows him to pay attention to things that may be happening around him.

Case in point: it allows him to hear the unearthly _shriek_ that echoes through the house. 

Virgil jolts up instantly, entire body stiffening in shock, and carefully slides his headphones down to hang around his neck. He slides his phone into his pocket and stands, stretching, waiting for something (he’s not entirely sure what). What happens is a massive crack of thunder, and then the lights go out, and then there’s another loud shriek. 

He pulls his phone out of his pocket and turns the flashlight app on, sweeping the beam around the room as best as he can. It doesn’t afford him great visibility, but it’s better than nothing. There’s another scary whimpering noise from upstairs, and now that it’s pitch black around him he can focus on what he’s actually hearing – Roman’s voice, whimpering and screaming and making generally frightened noises.

Virgil creeps up the stairs as carefully as he can, biting his lower lip and taking extreme care to set his socked feet on the stairs so softly that they cannot be heard. He’s memorized exactly where the creaky spots are on the staircase (since he tends to be a cryptid awake at odd hours), so he manages to stalk his way up to the second floor with completely noiseless steps. As he reaches the second floor, the lights flicker back on, but that does nothing to ease Virgil’s racing heart.

There are still terrified noises coming from Roman’s room, but Virgil is determined. He’s going to save Roman from whatever it is that he’s screaming about, and he’s going to be a hero to his boyfriend. He takes a deep breath, even though every single nerve of his body is on fire with nerves. The closer he gets to Roman’s room, the more he can hear – he hears Patton whimpering, he hears Logan murmuring gently, he hears Roman scream again, and he’s had enough.

He throws the door open, his entire body tense and ready to either punch something or grab his boyfriends and run. “ ** _What’s wrong? What’s happening? Who’s attacking you?!_** ”

The room is dim, lit only by fairy lights and the faint blue flicker of the television. Roman and Patton are clinging to each other and whimpering, and Logan is sitting in a chair, shaking his head. “Virgil?” Logan asks. “What’s wrong?” 

“ ** _I heard scre_** _aming, are – are you o_ kay?” 

“These two insisted on watching a horror film in the dark,” Logan says dryly, “and they were startled when the power went out.”

“So – so you’re all okay?” 

“We are fine, my dark and stormy night, although we are very sorry to have worried you for nothing,” Roman says, getting off the bed and pulling Virgil into a warm embrace. Virgil inhales Roman’s scent as he pushes his face into his shoulder and lets the tension drain out of his body.

“What do you say we put on a feel-good film, huh kiddo?” Patton asks. “Maybe some Disney?” 

“Yeah, Pat,” Virgil smiles. “That sounds great.”


	24. day twenty-four: walking home alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> patton walks back to his apartment, accompanied only by his shadow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: v minor anxiety mention

“Get home safely!” Patton’s friend calls. Patton waves back brightly, tightening his grip on his backpack straps as he walks through the massive library doors. It’s only a ten-minute walk to his off-campus apartment, but the weather is starting to dip into cooler temperatures, and Patton’s never done well in cold weather. 

Normally, he’d have Roman and Logan to walk home with him, since he lives with them. But Logan has a fever, and Roman had dutifully stayed home to look after him. Patton would have stayed too, but he had a group project meetup that he absolutely could not miss. So here he is, tugging his grey coat tightly around himself and burying his steadily reddening nose in the scarf he’d stolen from Roman, hurrying home against an icy wind that bites into his bones.

The walk home is lined with trees that tower above him, so tall that he doesn’t think he can see the tops even if he cranes his head so far back that he overbalances and falls onto his back. Logan and Roman and Virgil always worry when he does that, though, so he kesky eps his eyes fixed firmly forward and speeds up a little. He’s still technically walking, albeit at a faster pace than he normally does. 

The streets around their university are fairly quiet at this time. It’s late afternoon edging on evening, and normally the sun is just starting to set into the mountains, gilding everything in beautiful orange-gold. Today, however, the sky is iron-gray and overcast, and Patton dimly remembers Logan saying something about snow in the forecast. He hopes it doesn’t start to snow before he gets home.

He’s so lost in thought that he almost crosses the street without looking both ways first. Right as he’s about to take his first step, a hand reaches up out of his shadow. It’s bone-pale, slender and spindly, sprouting rapidly from the inky blackness of his shadow as it latches firmly around his ankle and tugs him back onto the sidewalk. “What are you doing, you ditz?” a voice hisses, and Patton turns around to see his shadow rise up in a strangely gooey-looking blackness. As he watches, the shadow solidifies into a human – a young boy with pale skin, shaggy brown-and-purple hair, and a shadow-black jacket patched with purple. He’s glaring at Patton, but not angrily. His expression looks more worried than anything else.

“Virgil!” Patton cheers, reaching forward to hug his shadow-walking boyfriend. Virgil grumbles at the public display of affection, but folds into Patton’s arms anyway, clinging to him with a strength that seems surprising when compared to his stick-thin frame. “I didn’t know you were with me!”

“When Ro said he was staying home, I figured I’d better come with you,” Virgil says, tightening his fists in Patton’s winter coat. “I was worried you’d do something stupid like accept a ride from a stranger who turned out to be – well – I watch too much _Criminal Minds_ with Lo, okay? And I’m too paranoid, and you’re not paranoid at all, and I just – I _worry_ about you, Pat.”

“I know you do,” Patton soothes, pulling back far enough to press a kiss to Virgil’s ice-cold forehead. He would be concerned, but Virgil is always that temperature. He always runs cold. “I appreciate you coming with me!”

“I figured you could use the company, and I don’t like it when you guys walk home alone. You never know what could be lurking.”

Virgil looks like he’s making to sink into Patton’s shadow again, but Patton grabs his hand and laces their fingers together. The chill of Virgil’s fingers only slightly seeps through Patton’s thick gloves. “Walk with me?”

Virgil rolls his eyes, but he’s smiling as he materializes his feet and steps out of Patton’s shadow. “Do you think that Lo will be feeling better enough for the four of us to cuddle tonight?” he asks shyly. 

Patton grins so brightly it doesn’t even matter that the sun is hidden behind snow-laden clouds. The first few flurries begin to fall as he responds, “Of course, Virgil!”


	25. day twenty-five: ghost stories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> logan wants to try a new podcast out with his boyfriends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: copious fluff

Patton yawns, snuggling further into the warm, sleepy knot of boyfriends on his bed. They’re all surrounded by and swaddled in blankets, and the sky outside is dark and stormy. Rain pounds on the windows as Patton turns his head and nuzzles into the soft warmth of Logan’s neck. Roman’s arms are warm around his waist, and Virgil is a comforting weight as he snuggles on top of him. 

The room is lit by fairy lights strung around the walls and ceiling and draped over the headboard. There’s a collection of stuffed animals arranged on the bed. Most of them are Patton’s, fluffy and full of stuffing and good for cuddling, but there are three that don’t belong to him. There’s a soft black cat plush, a golden lion with a flaming crimson mane, and a downy gray owl with a tiny little graduation cap and a diploma tucked beneath one wing.

Virgil shifts his head and gently kisses the underside of Patton’s chin. Patton giggles a little and shifts down to kiss the very top of his head. Roman hugs Patton a little closer and shifts forward to press his chest against Patton’s back. “I love you, Pat,” Roman murmurs, gently pressing his nose into the soft fluff of his curls. 

“Love you too, Roro,” Patton sighs.

“I love all of you,” Virgil murmurs, already half-asleep. Patton’s sleepy himself, and ready to nap surrounded by the loves of his life. He hugs Virgil close as Logan rolls over and pulls his phone off the charging port.

“There is a new mystery podcast I have been wanting to try out,” he says quietly. “It researches ghost stories and legends from around the world. I had thought that perhaps we could listen to it together. As . . . as a unit.”

“Is it really scary?” Patton asks. “I don’t like really scary things, Lo.”

“Me either,” Virgil adds; Patton hadn’t thought that he was awake enough to contribute, even as he kisses his head. Logan smiles softly and leans in to kiss Virgil on the head and Patton on the nose. 

“I am aware, my loves. I’ve screened the first few episodes by myself, and I do not believe that they are frightening enough to throw you off.”

“I guess we can try it out!” Patton says. Virgil yawns and nuzzles into him.

“Sure.”

“I am excited!” Roman says, reaching over Patton and Virgil to gently caress Logan’s cheek. “I trust your judgement, my darling.”

Logan turns faintly pink in the soft lighting and fumbles through the podcast app on his phone until the first episode begins to play. Patton closes his eyes, curls into the soft warmth of his boyfriends, and lets the soothing voice of the narrator wash over him.


	26. day twenty-six: ghost hunting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> thomas gets some interesting visitors. (ghost!lamp au)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: none!

Thomas squints at the door, confused. “Um . . . Hello?”

Two men stand in front of him, wearing hoodies with a logo they’re clearly expecting him to recognize and carrying a video camera. “You’re Thomas Sanders, right?”

“Yeeeeees?”

“We heard that your house is haunted. Like, legit, bona-fide haunted. We’re here to investigate and hopefully find concrete proof of spiritual activity!”

Roman laughs his ass off next to Thomas, doubling over as he shrieks and wheezes in laughter. The two ghost hunters don’t seem to be able to notice his presence, nor do they seem able to detect Patton comforting a nervous Virgil hovering on the stairs or Logan hovering at his brother’s side. “You do not have to let them in, Thomas,” Logan says. “I do not trust them.”

“No, please, _please_ let them in!” Roman begs. “I wanna fuck with their equipment!”   
  
“ _Don’t let them in!_ ” Virgil moans. 

“Language, Roman,” Patton says. “Thomas, it’s your call, honestly. We’re dead. It’s your house." 

Thomas takes a deep breath, prepares himself to deal with truly impressive levels of bullshit, and steps back from the door. “Come on in.”

The ghost hunters walk straight through Roman to enter the house, completely unfazed. Roman shivers a little at the feeling, still laughing, and Thomas facepalms. So much for a quiet Saturday in – clearly, this is going to be a huge pain in the ass. 

Oh well. If nothing else, it’ll give Roman something to that isn’t criticizing his creative flow.


	27. day twenty-seven: spooky dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> logan is sick, and he has a weird dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: nonspecific mentions of illness

Logan yawns, settling into the nice, warm nest of blankets that Patton and Virgil have built. “We’re going to pick up Roman from his drama practice,” Virgil says quietly. “The weather’s too cold for him to ride his motorcycle. Do you need anything else before we go?”

Logan sniffles a little, sneezing into a tissue. “Could you make sure that there are plenty of tissues on the nightstand?” he asks, voice raspy from his cold. 

“Of course,” Patton says. “I’ve got some saltines here, some water, some Gatorade, and bowl of soup in case you get hungry. And there are tissues here, too –”

“Patton, relax,” Virgil laughs softly. “We’re only going to be gone for, like, an hour.” 

“But he’s sick, Virge!”

“Patton,” Logan coughs. “I’ll be alright. Go get Roman. If I need anything urgently, I’ll call you, alright?”

Patton sighs, leaning in to kiss his forehead. “Try and get some sleep, Lolo. We love you very, very much.” 

Logan curls into the warmth of his bed and closes his eyes, trying to sleep. He’s not sure when he falls asleep again, but he’s woken by someone shaking his shoulder rapidly. “Wh – wha?”

“Logan, wake up!” 

Logan opens his eyes and almost screams. 

Patton is standing in front of him, grinning, two floppy brown ears poking out of his hair. Logan struggles to untangle himself from the nest of blankets and notices a fluffy brown tail wagging brightly behind him. “Patton?! What – what’s happening – with you – your –”

“What, Lolo?”

“Your _tail!_ ”

“Hmm?” Patton looks at the tail. “What do you mean, Lolo? It’s the same as it always is!” 

Logan is pretty sure that Patton does not have a tail. 

The door opens, and suddenly Roman floats in. _Floats_. Furthermore, he’s transparent, grinning brightly and laughing. “ _Roman?!_ ” 

“Logan! Are you feeling better?”

“ _You’re a ghost?!_ ” 

“Um, yes? Logan, this is not new information, I lived in this house before the rest of you even moved in!”

Logan doesn’t know what to expect when Virgil walks in, but he’s certainly not expecting two sharp, gleaming fangs that are just barely tinged in red. “Hey there, Lo. Glad to see you’re awake.” 

“Of course you’re a vampire,” Logan says faintly. 

“Uh, yeah, I am. Lo, you know all this.” 

“Are you feeling alright?” 

“Logan?"

“Logan, wake up! Logan!” 

Logan opens his eyes, and Patton is leaning over him, gently pressing the back of his hand against his forehead. Logan reaches up to pat at Patton’s soft brown hair. “Your . . . ears are gone?” 

Patton tilts his head to the side, confused. “Lo, my ears are right where they’ve always been.” He touches his normal, regular, human ears, and Logan squints, confused. “Are you feeling better?” 

“I . . . where are your ears?”  
  
Patton kisses his head. “Lolo, I think your fever’s getting a little stronger. Go back to sleep, okay? We’ll take care of you.” 

Logan closes his eyes, hoping he doesn’t have any more weird dreams.


	28. day twenty-eight: playing scary games

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> virgil and his boyfriends play ghost in the graveyard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: none!

“Who’s gonna be the ghost first?”

Virgil bounces on the balls of his feet, quickly pressing his index finger to his nose. “Not it!”   
  
Rom and Patton cotton on quickly, touching their noses and chorusing, “Not it!” Logan looks at all of them, rolls his eyes, and laughs. “So I guess I’m the ghost first, then.”

Virgil taps on a large, thick tree. “This is base, okay? And you have to touch this tree in order to be safe.” Logan nods. “Lo, we’ll count down, and you go and hide. Whoever finds Logan is immune, and the other two have to run back and touch the tree. If Logan tags one of you before you get here, you have to be the ghost. Clear on the rules?”

They all nod, and Logan rolls his head around to crack his neck before grinning at them. “Good luck, humans,” he teases, leaning forward to press a single kiss to each of their foreheads. Virgil covers his eyes and begins to count, listening for Logan’s footsteps. But Logan is good at moving quietly, and Roman and Patton are counting pretty loudly.   
  
“Ten o’clock, eleven o’clock, _midnight_!” they chorus, loud enough for Logan to hear them wherever he’s hiding. They split up, Virgil flicking his flashlight on and sweeping it over the forest floor as he looks for Logan. 

Logan is clever. He’s good at hide-and-seek, and he’s fast, and he’s athletic enough to hide in places that Virgil and Patton, with their asthma, can’t. He hears Patton’s loud, shrieking laughter as he sprints through the forest, and he can hear Roman shouting for Logan.

Virgil hears a rustling noise in the grass and leaves, and he thinks hard. Logan is intelligent, and he knows his boyfriends well, which means he probably also knows exactly how to avoid them. Virgil lifts his flashlight, tilts his head back, and looks up into the trees 

Logan peers back at him, the light reflecting off his glasses. Virgil grins, clears his throat, and shouts, “ _Ghost in the graveyard!_ ” 

Logan leaps off of his branch and lands in the next tree, eagerly swinging through the darkening forest like a monkey as Roman and Patton start running as fast as they can. Virgil sprints after him, hearing them laugh and shriek and sprint towards base.

Roman slams his palm against the tree, and Patton is only a few feet away from the tree before Logan drops from the tree and tags him on the shoulder. “The ghost got you!” he shouts triumphantly, wrapping his arms around Patton and kissing his cheek and neck. 

Patton squeals with laughter, and Virgil grins. “I guess you’re the ghost now, Pat.”


	29. day twenty-nine: dragon witch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> roman wishes the dragon witch a happy halloween.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: none!

Roman makes his way through the permanently-fall forest of the Imagination. His sword, for once, is sheathed firmly at his side, and he has no intention of drawing it. This is not a scheduled conflict, not a battle where he will go out to defeat his so-called sworn enemy and reclaim his pride.

No, this is a friendly visit. He checks the woven shopping bag he’s carrying, makes sure that the breakable cargo inside is safe and undamaged, and approaches the little cottage that sits in the forest’s exact center. Smoke rises from the chimney, and the thatched roofing trembles a little in the autumn breeze. He approaches the wooden door and knocks three times, sharp and strong. 

The door opens, and an impressively tall woman stands there. She has auburn hair that falls to the back of her knees, gathered in a single thick braid, and she wears a simple dark purple sweater and jeans. Two large wings fan out from her back, and there are two small, curved horns nestled in her hair. Her skin is a dark golden, and she arches an eyebrow down at him.

“To what do I owe the pleasure, Prince Roman?” Her voice is low and soothing. 

Roman rolls his eyes. “Enough with the formalities, Cassandra, let me in.” 

Cassandra smirks and steps aside, allowing him into her home. “You never know who’s watching,” she chides. “What would they say if they found out that their prince was having tea with his sworn enemy?”

“They’re my constructs, Cassy, you honestly think I couldn’t change their dispositions with a snap of my fingers?”

“But it’s more _fun_ like this,” she pouts. Roman laughs, and a smile tugs at the corners of her lips. “I put the kettle on, it should boil soon.”

Roman reaches into the woven shopping bag and pulls out a few jars of jam. “Patton’s been experimenting with food again,” he says. “He’s learning how to make jam, and he insisted that I bring you some. We’ve got apple, peach, plum, and cherry, and I told him I didn’t know how much jam you’d actually want but he insisted so here I am with four jars of jam and –” 

“Oh, he’s an absolute _angel_!” Cassandra laughs, scooping all of the jars into her arms. “Honestly, Roman, he’s a _catch_. If you hadn’t already snatched him up, I’d be on that in a hot minute, I’ll tell you.”

“Cassandra!” Roman screeches, scandalized. “Stop hitting on my boyfriends!” 

“Relax, darling, you know I jest. He is far too gay and I am far too ace for anything to actually come of that. But you _should_ bring him to visit some time, yes? He and I get along _fabulously_ well, and I enjoy having a cooking partner who knows what they’re doing.”

“What are you trying to insinuate?”   
  
“That you don’t know what you’re doing. I thought I was being obvious about it?”  
  
Roman makes an offended noise and pretends to faint onto the couch. Cassandra laughs, and Roman hears the teakettle whistle in the background.

“Hey, Cassy?”

“Yes, Roman?” 

“Happy Halloween.”

She smiles, and ruffles his hair. “Happy Halloween to you, too, little brother. Now! Tell me _all_ the latest gossip on those cute little boyfriends of yours! I’m just _dying_ to know.”


	30. day thirty: the crofter's is g o n e

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> logan attempts to shoot a student film.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: v brief blood mention

“CUT!”

Logan has to refrain from _slamming_ the lens cap onto his camera. Roman groans, jam smeared all over his face and hands and chest to mimic blood, and lurches forward towards Patton, who emits a high-pitched “shriek of fear” and shields his face, giggling, as Roman wraps him in a tight embrace. “ _Brains!_ ” he roars, smearing Patton’s face with jam as he smothers him with sticky kisses. 

“Yo, Princey!” Virgil snaps. “If you smear my eyeliner being a stupid jam zombie and you’re _not even giving us usable footage_ , I’m gonna _kill you_.” Logan leans forward and kisses Virgil’s nose, thanking him for his assistance. Virgil lets out a deep, long-suffering sigh and reaches into his makeup bag again, rifling through his SFX kit and pulling out an eyeliner pencil and a can of something that Logan thinks is called setting spray.

Roman lets Patton go when Virgil approaches him in favor of pulling Virgil in for his own kiss frenzy. “Roman, you absolute dumbass, _let me go!_ ”

“ _Kiss!_ ” Roman groans, in exactly the same voice as he’d said _Brains_ earlier. Virgil smacks at him lightly, but doesn’t truly stop him from showering jam-covered kisses onto his face.

“Yeah, yeah, I love you too, Princey. Now, let me fix your makeup!”

Roman obediently sits still as Virgil wipes the drying jam off his face and starts reapplying his makeup. “Hey, Pat, we need more jam so we can fix his zombie stuff, okay?” 

Patton rummages through the fridge, and then turns around to look at Logan with wide, horrified eyes. “Lo . . . we’re out of Crofter’s.”

Logan drops his head into his hands and groans loudly. “The true horror film is that it’s taking so many takes to get through a five-minute student film.”

“Is it too late to recast?” Virgil asks dryly, and Logan laughs despite Roman’s outraged shriek.


	31. day thirty-one: the big spook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> virgil explains halloween to logan. (LDAD!AU)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: none!   
> (what a ride it’s been! i hope you’ve enjoyed these, everybody!!! <3)

“Please remind me again what is happening?”

Logan hooks his arms casually over the edge of the little tank. It’s new, something Thomas and Virgil had designed and built for him. It’s shallower than the tank he sleeps in, but deep enough for him to coil his tail and still be completely covered with water when his torso is above water. There’s even a little padded platform where he can rest his arms and chin.

“It’s Halloween, Logan,” Thomas says, but the rest of his explanation is completely drowned out by Virgil cackling maniacally and dancing around the lab.

“ _Peak spook! Peak spook! Peak spook! Peak spook!_ ” he chants gleefully.

“It’s his favorite holiday,” Thomas says monotonously, raising his voice to be heard over Virgil.

“Is he . . . alright?” Logan asks nervously. 

“He’s fine.”

Virgil bounces over to the tank, still laughing, and leans in to gently kiss Logan’s wet hair. Logan shivers a little when Virgil’s lips come into contact with him; he’s still getting used to the more human methods of displaying affection, and he can’t say that he dislikes them. “I’m okay, Lo, I’m just _very insanely excited_ for Halloween.” 

“So I’ve noticed,” Logan says. Virgil’s face is still close to him, close enough that he can reach out and touch it gently. He does, pressing his palm against Virgil’s cheek and carefully sliding his clawed fingers over the smooth, delicate skin. The little brown scales on Virgil’s face ( _freckles_ , he remembers, _they’re called freckles_ ), are prominent when they’re this close together, as are the little flecks of golden-brown in his eyes and the fluffy softness of his always-dry hair and the soft pink that creeps onto his pale face every time Logan touches him.

“Hey,” Virgil breathes, and it’s warm on Logan’s face. 

“Hey,” Logan breathes, leaning infinitesimally closer, feeling his nose gently knock into Virgil’s. 

“Gay,” Thomas says, shattering the little moment they’d been having. 

Virgil pulls away from Logan, and Logan is careful not to scratch him. “Doc, _what the hell?!_ I’m trying to have a gay moment here!”

“Listen, just because you decided to have a love affair with the merman, that does not mean that I have to be subjected to your lovey-dovey little whatever-it-is –”

“ _Let me be an individual, Thomas!_ ” 

Logan rolls his eyes and laughs a little, watching Virgil and Thomas lay into each other. He knows them too well to think that this is an actual serious argument – their body language does not suggest hostility in the slightest, and Thomas is barely suppressing laughter.

After about five minutes, Virgil rolls his eyes, crosses back over to the tank, and gently touches Logan’s face. “Hey there, Lo,” he says quietly, leaning forward. Logan leans up and gently rubs his nose against Virgil’s in the soft way that Virgil has taught him.

“Hello again, Virgil,” Logan says. He bumps their foreheads together, giggling a little when Virgil ghosts his fingertips over the sensitive scales on his face. “That tickles.”

“You’ve mentioned,” Virgil says, trailing his fingers over the scales again as Logan lets out a few little giggles. “I like hearing you laugh. You don’t do it a lot, but it’s . . . it’s adorable.”

Logan laughs more, and for once, he doesn’t try and suppress it. He lets the laughter pour from his mouth as Virgil gently tickles and scratches the scales on his face before he leans in to kiss him. 

Kissing is a new, human experience. Mer don’t really do that when they’re in love, from what Logan knows. He doesn’t have a lot of experience with mer that aren’t Patton or Roman, neither of whom have romantic interests, but he knows that kissing is definitely a human thing. He likes it, though. He likes the softness of Virgil’s lips and the warmth of his mouth and the way his smooth, non-fang teeth feel when Logan sticks his tongue into Virgil’s mouth. They have to be careful about Virgil not cutting his tongue on Logan’s fangs, but it’s only happened once so far. 

Virgil presses his hands to Logan’s face and gently smooths his thumbs over the scaled skin beneath Logan’s eyes, and Logan lets his eyes linger open for a couple of moments longer, drinking in the sight of Virgil, eyes closed, kissing him, before closing his eyes and letting himself kiss back.

Later that day, Logan is dozing in his little tank, shifting his tail as it starts to cramp, and then someone gently taps on his head. “Lo. Lo, wake up.”

Logan blinks awake lazily. There’s a patch of sunlight centered squarely on his little tank, and it’s warming the waters _perfectly_. The sun gleams off his scales as he shifts a little, tail rippling as he sits up and rubs at his eyes. “Mmmmmwhat?” he grumbles. “Wanna sleep mooooore.”

“Look at my costume!” Virgil says. Logan rubs his eyes again and strains to focus on him. when he finally does, his eyes widen. Virgil looks  _incredible_.

He’s shirtless (which Logan _always_ approves of), and there are purple scales painted carefully down his arms and onto his hands and face. The scales are augmented with little glimmers of silver that makes them shimmer the way Logan’s do in the sunlight, and Virgil has created a mask of purple-and-silver scales that mimics Logan’s to a T. His legs are hidden from view by an intricate, elaborate fabric tail, and when he turns around there are fins on his back. They’re different from Logan’s, more fan-like, more sail-like, but they’re gorgeous.

Logan’s mouth is dry. He has no idea how to respond to this. 

Virgil turns to face him again, bright red under the facial makeup. “I . . . do you like it? It’s kinda based on you, but I – I took some artistic liberties, I . . . I kind of . . . I think it looks pretty good, I . . . are you okay, Logan?” 

Faintly, Logan says, “You . . . are . . . s-stunning . . .”

Virgil grins a little, leans in to kiss him. Logan cups his face instantly, pulling him in and gently running his fingers through Virgil’s soft bangs. “You,” he gasps, leaning back long enough to stare at Virgil’s made-up face, “you look . . . you look like _me_.” 

“Yeah, I do,” Virgil says softly. “I thought this would be a cool costume and . . . and I thought that . . . that you might like to see this. I know you . . . don’t really see that many other mer, and . . . I don’t know, you look so _cool_ , Lo, I think you’re _amazing_ , you inspire me _so much_ in my art and my science and my work and I thought – I don’t know, I thought I’d pay tribute to that or something? I don’t know, there was a lot of stuff running through my mind but I thought that –” 

Logan kisses him again to stop him from rambling, and Virgil happily leans into him, wrapping his arms around Logan’s neck, careful not to let the sea water glistening on Logan’s shoulders and back smear his makeup. 

Logan’s hypersensitive ears pick up the little _click_ noise that Thomas’s camera makes as he takes a photo of them. “Yeah, yeah, you two are cute, I _guess_.”

Virgil flips him off behind Logan’s back, but Logan doesn’t care. He just keeps kissing his beautiful boy.

 

**Author's Note:**

> come scream at me on tumblr!! // [@teacupfulofstarshine ](https://teacupfulofstarshine.tumblr.com)


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